THE  MADONNA  IN   ART 


Giorgione. —  Madonna  of  Castelfranco. 


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Estelle  M.  Hurll 

Author  of  "Child  Life  in  Jlrt."    "The  Bible 
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The  Madonna  in  Art 


Copyright,  i8gy 
By  L.  C.  Page  &  Company 

(incorporated) 


All  rights  reserved 


Thirteenth    Impression,   August,   1906 


COLONIAL   PRESS 

Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  C.  H.  Simonds  b>  Co. 

Boston,  U.S.A. 


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CONTENTS. 


Preface         ..... 
Introduction        .... 
I.    The  Portrait  Madonna     . 
II.     The  Madonna  Enthroned 

III.  The  Madonna  in  the  Sky 

IV.  The  Pastoral  Madonna    . 

V.    The  Madonna  in  a  Home   Environ 
ment 

VI.    The  Madonna  of  Love 

VII.     The  Madonna  in  Adoration    . 

VIII.    The  Madonna  as  Witness 

Bibliography        .... 


PAGE 
XI 

xiii 
23 
37 
65 
9i 

118 

131 
15S 
1S2 
210 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Giorgione Madonna  of  Castelfranco     . 

Parish  Church,  Castelfranco. 

Frontispiece 

Jacopo  Bellini    .     .     .     Madonna  and  Child     ...       27 

Venice  A  cade  my. 

Gabriel  Max  ....     Madonna  and  Child     ...       33 

Perugino Madonna  and  Saints.     (De 

tail.) 43 

Vatican  Gallery,  Rome. 

Giovanni  Bellini   .    .     Madonna  of   San  Zaccaria 

(Detail.) 

Church  0/ San  Zaccaria,  Venice. 

Veronese Madonna  and  Saints   .     . 

Venice  Academy. 

Quentin  Massys      .     .     Madonna  and  Child     .     . 
Berlin  Gallery. 

Fra  Angelico      .     .     •     Madonna  della  Stella 
Monastery  of  San  Marco,  Florence. 

Umbrian  School     .     .     Glorification  of  the  Virgin 

National  Gallery,  London. 


Moretto Madonna  in  Glory  . 

Church  of  San  Giorgio  Maggiore,  Verona. 


5' 
57 
6l 
67 
71 
75 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Spanish  School  .     .     .     Madonna  on   the   Crescent 

Moon 

Dresden  Gallery. 

Bouguereau     ....     Madonna  of  the  Angels  . 

Raphael Madonna  in  the  Meadow 

Belvedere  Gallery,  Vienna. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci     .     Madonna  of  the  Rocks    . 

National  Gallery,  London. 

Palma  Vecchio   .     .     .     Santa  Conversazione  .     . 

Belvedere  Gallery,  Vienna. 

Filippino  Lippi    .     .     .     Madonna  in  a  Rose  Garden 
Pitti  Gallery,  Florence. 


Schongauer 


.     .     .     Holy  Family . 
Belvedere  Gallery,  Vienna. 


Raphael Madonna  dell'  Impannata 

Pitti  Gallery,  Florence. 

Correggio Madonna  della  Scala  .     . 

Parma  Gallery. 

Titian Madonna  and  Saints.     (De 

tail.) 

Belvedere  Gallery,  Vienna. 

DDrer Madonna  and  Child    . 

Belvedere  Gallery,  Vienna. 

Bodenhausen  ....     Madonna  and  Child    . 

Private  Gallery,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Andrea  della  Robbia.     Madonna  in  Adoration 

National  Museum,  Florence. 

Lorenzo  dt  Credi  .     .     Nativity 

Uffizt  Gallery,  Florence. 

FlLiPPO  LlPPl  ....     Madonna  in  Adoration 
Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence. 


8j 

87 

95 
101 

109 

"3 
119 

"3 
139 

H3 
*5* 
'55 

165 
169 

*7S 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

LuiGl  Vivarini     .     .     .     Madonna  and  Child     .     .     .     179 
Church  of  the  Redentore,  Venict. 

Giovanni  Bellini    .     .     Madonna  between  St.  George 

and  St.  Paul.     (Detail.)     189 

Venice  A  cade  my. 

Luini Madonna   with  St.  Barbara 

and  St.  Anthony  .     .     .     193 
Brera  Gallery,  Milan. 

Botticelli Madonna  of  the  Pomegran- 
ate       197 

Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence. 

Murillo Madonna  and  Child    .     .     .     201 

Pitti  Gallery,  Florence. 

Raphael Sistine  Madonna     ....     205 

Dresden  Gallery. 


PREFACE. 

'  I  "HIS  little  book  is  intended  as  a 
companion  volume  to  "  Child-Life  in 
Art,"  and  is  a  study  of  Madonna  art  as  a 
revelation  of  motherhood.  With  the  his- 
torical and  legendary  incidents  in  the  life 
of  the  Virgin  it  has  nothing  to  do.  These 
subjects  have  been  discussed  compre- 
hensively and  finally  in  Mrs.  Jameson's 
splendid  work  on  the  "  Legends  of  the 
Madonna."  Out  of  the  great  mass  of 
Madonna  subjects  are  selected,  here,  only 
the  idealized  and  devotional  pictures  of 
the  Mother  and  Babe.  The  methods  of 
classifying  such  works  are  explained  in 
the  Introduction. 

Great  pains  have  been  taken  to  choose 
as  illustrations,  not  only  the  pictures  which 


Xll  PREFACE. 

are  universal  favorites,  but  others  which 
are  less  widely  known  and  not  easily 
accessible. 

The  cover  was  designed  by  Miss  Isa- 
belle  A.  Sinclair,  in  the  various  colors 
appropriate  to  the  Virgin  Mary.  The 
lily  is  the  Virgin's  flower,  la  fleur  de 
Marie,  the  highest  symbol  of  her  purity. 
The  gold  border  surrounding  the  panel 
is  copied  from  the  ornamentation  of  the 
mantle  worn  by  Botticelli's  Dresden  Ma- 
donna. 

ESTELLE    M.   HURLL. 
New  Bedford,  Mass.,  May,  i8p?. 


INTRODUCTION. 

f  T  is  now  about  fifteen  centuries  since 
the  Madonna  with  her  Babe  was  first 
introduced  into  art,  and  it  is  safe  to  say 
that,  throughout  all  this  time,  the  sub- 
ject has  been  unrivalled  in  popularity. 
It  requires  no  very  profound  philosophy 
to  discover  the  reason  for  this.  The 
Madonna  is  the  universal  type  of  mother- 
hood, a  subject  which,  in  its  very  nature, 
appeals  to  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
people.  No  one  is  too  ignorant  to  under- 
stand it,  and  none  too  wise  to  be  su- 
perior to  its  charm.  The  little  child 
appreciates  it  as  readily  as  the  old  man, 
and  both,  alike,  are  drawn  to  it  by  an  ir- 
resistible attraction.     Thus,  century  after 


xiv  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

century,  the  artist  has  poured  out  his  soul 
in  this  all-prevailing  theme  of  mother  love 
until  we  have  an  accumulation  of  Ma- 
donna pictures  so  great  that  no  one  would 
dare  to  estimate  their  number.  It  would 
seem  that  every  conceivable  type  was  long 
since  exhausted;  but  the  end  is  not  yet. 
So  long  as  we  have  mothers,  art  will  con- 
tinue to  produce  Madonnas. 

With  so  much  available  material,  the 
student  of  Madonna  art  would  be  discour- 
aged at  the  outset  were  it  not  possible 
to  approach  the  subject  systematically. 
Even  the  vast  number  of  Madonna  pic- 
tures becomes  manageable  when  studied 
by  some  method  of  classification.  Several 
plans  are  possible.  The  historical  student 
is  naturally  guided  in  his  grouping  by  the 
periods  in  which  the  pictures  were  pro- 
duced ;  the  critic,  by  the  technical  schools 
which  they  represent  Besides  these  more 
scholarly  methods,  are  others,  founded  on 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

simpler  and  more  obvious  dividing  lines. 
Such  are  the  two  proposed  in  the  follow- 
ing pages,  forming,  respectively,  Part  I. 
and  Part  II.  of  our  little  volume. 

The  first  is  based  on  the  style  of  com- 
position in  which  the  picture  is  painted; 
the  second,  on  the  subject  which  it  treats. 
The  first  examines  the  mechanical  ar- 
rangement of  the  figures ;  the  second  asks, 
vvhat  is  the  real  relation  between  them  ? 
The  first  deals  with  external  characteris- 
tics; the  second,  with  the  inner  signifi- 
cance. 

Proceeding  by  the  first,  we  ask,  what 
are  the  general  styles  of  treatment  in 
which  Madonna  pictures  have  been  ren- 
dered ?  The  answer  names  the  following 
five  classes: 

i.  The  Portrait  Madonna,  the  figures 
in  half-length  against  an  indefinite  back- 
ground. 

2.    The     Madonna    Enthroned,    where 


XVI  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

the  setting  is  some  sort  of  a  throne  or 
dais. 

3.  The  Madonna  in  the  Sky  or  the 
"  Madonna  in  Gloria,"  where  the  figures 
are  set  in  the  heavens,  as  represented  by 
a  glory  of  light,  by  clouds,  by  a  company 
of  cherubs,  or  by  simple  elevation  above 
the  earth's  surface. 

4.  The  Pastoral  Madonna,  with  a  land- 
scape background. 

5.  The  Madonna  in  a  Home  Environ- 
ment, where  the  setting  is  an  interior. 

The  foregoing  subjects  are  arranged  in 
the  order  of  historical  development,  so  far 
as  is  possible.  The  first  and  last  of  the 
classes  enumerated  are  so  small,  compared 
with  the  others,  that  they  are  somewhat 
insignificant  in  the  whole  number  of  Ma- 
donna pictures.  Yet,  in  all  probability,  it 
is  along  these  lines  that  future  art  is  most 
likely  to  develop  the  subject,  choosing  the 
portrait  Madonna  because  of  its  universal 


INTRODUCTION.  xvii 

adaptability,  and  representing  the  Madon- 
na in  her  home,  in  an  effort  to  realize, 
historically,  the  New  Testament  scenes. 
Of  the  remaining  three,  the  enthroned 
Madonna  is,  doubtless,  the  largest  class, 
historically  considered,  because  of  the  long 
period  through  which  it  has  been  repre- 
sented. The  pastoral  and  enskied  Ma- 
donnas were  in  high  favor  in  the  first 
period  of  their  perfection. 

Our  next  question  is  concerned  with 
the  aspects  of  motherhood  displayed  in 
Madonna  pictures :  in  what  relation  to 
her  child  has  the  Madonna  been  repre- 
sented ?  The  answer  includes  the  follow- 
ing three  subjects : 

i.  The  Madonna  of  Love  (The  Mater 
Amabilis),  in  which  the  relation  is  purely 
maternal.  The  emphasis  is  upon  a  moth- 
er's natural  affection  as  displayed  towards 
her  child. 

2.   The    Madonna  in  Adoration    (The 


XV111  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

Madre  Pia),  in  which  the  mother's  atti- 
tude is  one  of  humility,  contemplating  her 
child  with  awe. 

3.  The  Madonna  as  Witness,  in  which 
the  Mother  is  preeminently  the  Christ- 
bearer,  wearing  the  honors  of  her  proud 
position  as  witness  to  her  son's  great 
destiny. 

These  subjects  are  mentioned  in  the  or- 
der of  philosophical  climax,  and  as  we  go 
from  the  first  to  the  second,  and  from  the 
second  to  the  third,  we  advance  farther 
and  farther  into  the  experience  of  mother- 
hood. At  the  same  time  there  is  an  in- 
crease in  the  dignity  of  the  Madonna  and 
in  her  importance  as  an  individual.  In  the 
Mater  Amabilis  she  is  subordinate  to  her 
child,  absorbed  in  him,  so  to  speak ;  his 
infantine  charms  often  overmatch  her  own 
beauty.  When  she  rises  to  the  responsibili- 
ties of  her  high  calling,  she  is,  for  the  time 
being,  of  equal  interest  and  importance. 


INTRODUCTION.  XIX 

/Esthetically,  she  is  now  even  more  at- 
tractive than  her  child,  whose  seriousness, 
in  such  pictures,  takes  something  from 
his  childlikeness.  Chronologically,  our  list 
reads  backwards,  as  the  religious  aspect 
of  Mary's  motherhood  was  the  first  treated 
in  art,  while  the  naturalistic  conception 
came  last.  Regarded  as  expressive  of  na- 
tional characteristics,  the  Mater  Amabilis 
is  the  Madonna  best  beloved  in  northern 
countries,  while  the  other  two  subjects  be- 
long specially  to  the  art  of  the  south. 

It  will  be  seen  that  any  number  of 
Madonna  pictures,  having  been  arranged 
in  the  five  groups  designated  in  Part  I., 
may  be  gathered  up  and  redistributed  in 
the  three  classes  of  Part  II.  To  make  this 
clear,  the  pictures  mentioned  in  the  first 
method  of  classification  are  frequently  re- 
ferred to  a  second  time,  viewed  from  an 
entirely  different  standpoint.  Since  the 
lines  of  cleavage  are  so  widely  dissimilar 


XX  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

in  the  two  cases,  both  methods  of  study 
are  necessary  to  a  complete  understanding 
of  a  picture.  By  the  first,  we  learn  a 
convenient  term  of  description  by  which 
we  may  casually  designate  a  Madonna ;  by 
the  second,  we  find  its  highest  meaning  as 
a  work  of  art,  and  are  admitted  to  some 
new  secret  of  a  mother's  love. 


Part  I. 

MADONNAS   CLASSED   BY    THE  STYLE  OF 
COMPOSITION. 


THE   MADONNA   IN   ART. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE    PORTRAIT    MADONNA. 

;HE  first  Madonna  pictures  known 
to  us  are  of  the  portrait  style,  and 
are  of  Byzantine  or  Greek  ori- 
gin. They  were  brought  to  Rome  and 
the  western  empire  from  Constantinople 
(the  ancient  Byzantium),  the  capital  of  the 
eastern  empire,  where  a  new  school  of 
Christian  art  had  developed  out  of  that 
of  ancient  Greece.  Justinian's  conquest 
of  Italy  sowed  the  new  art-seed  in  a  fertile 
field,  where  it  soon  took  root  and  multi- 
plied rapidly.  There  was,  however,  little 
or  no  improvement  in  the  type  for  a  long 
*3 


24  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

period ;  it  remained  practically  unchanged 
till  the  thirteenth  century.  Thus,  while 
a  Byzantine  Madonna  is  to  be  found  in 
nearly  every  old  church  in  Italy,  to  see 
one  is  to  see  all.  They  are  half-length 
figures  against  a  background  of  gold  leaf, 
at  first  laid  on  solidly,  or,  at  a  somewhat 
later  date,  studded  with  cherubs.  The 
Virgin  has  a  meagre,  ascetic  counten- 
ance, large,  ill-shaped  eyes,  and  an  almost 
peevish  expression ;  her  head  is  draped 
in  a  heavy,  dark  blue  veil,  falling  in  stiff 
folds. 

Unattractive  as  such  pictures  are  to  us 
from  an  artistic  standpoint,  they  inspire 
us  with  respect  if  not  with  reverence. 
Once  objects  of  mingled  devotion  and 
admiration,  they  are  still  regarded  with 
awe  by  many  who  can  no  longer  admire. 
Their  real  origin  being  lost  in  obscur- 
ity, innumerable  legends  have  arisen,  at- 
tributing  them    to   miraculous   agencies, 


THE    PORTRAIT    MADONNA.  2$ 

and  also  endowing  them  with  power  to 
work  miracles.  There  is  an  early  and 
widespread  tradition,  imported  with  the 
Madonna  from  the  East,  which  makes  St. 
Luke  a  painter.  It  is  said  that  he  painted 
many  portraits  of  the  Virgin,  and,  natur- 
ally, all  the  churches  possessing  old  Byzan- 
tine pictures  claim  that  they  are  genuine 
works  from  the  hand  of  the  evangelist. 
There  is  one  in  the  Ara  Coeli  at  Rome, 
and  another  in  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedino, 
of  which  marvellous  tales  are  told,  besides 
others  of  great  sanctity  in  St.  Mark's, 
Venice,  and  in  Padua. 

It  would  not  be  interesting  to  dwell, 
in  any  detail,  upon  these  curious  old  pic- 
tures. We  would  do  better  to  take  our 
first  example  from  the  art  which,  though 
founded  on  Byzantine  types,  had  begun  to 
learn  of  nature.  Such  a  picture  we  find  in 
the  Venice  Academy,  by  Jacopo  Bellini, 
painted  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 


26  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

century,  somewhat  later  than  any  corre- 
sponding picture  could  have  been  found 
elsewhere  in  Italy,  as  Venice  was  chrono- 
logically behind  the  other  art  schools. 
The  background  is  a  glory  of  cherub 
heads  touched  with  gold  hatching.  Both 
mother  and  child  wear  heavy  nimbi,  orna- 
mented with  gold.  These  points  recall 
Byzantine  work ;  but  the  gentler  face  of 
the  Virgin,  and  the  graceful  fall  of  her 
drapery,  show  that  we  are  in  a  different 
world  of  art.  The  child  is  dressed  in  a 
little  tunic,  in  the  primitive  method. 

With  the  dawn  of  the  Italian  Renais- 
sance, the  old  style  of  portrait  Madonna 
passed  out  of  vogue.  More  elaborate 
backgrounds  were  introduced  from  the 
growing  resources  of  technique.  In  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  pictures 
of  the  portrait  style  were  comparatively 
rare.  Raphael,  however,  was  not  above 
adopting  this  method,  as  every  lover  of 


Jacopo  Bellini.  —  Madonna  and  Child. 


THE    PORTRAIT    MADONNA.  29 

the  Granduca  Madonna  will  remember. 
His  friend  Bartolommeo  also  selected 
this  style  of  composition  for  some  of  the 
loveliest  of  his  works. 

The  story  of  the  friendship  between 
these  two  men  is  full  of  interest.  At  the 
time  of  Raphael's  first  appearance  in 
Florence  (1504),  Bartolommeo  had  been 
four  years  a  monk,  and  had  laid  aside, 
apparently  forever,  the  brush  he  had  pre- 
viously wielded  with  such  promise.  The 
young  stranger  sought  the  Frate  in  his 
cell  at  San  Marco,  and  soon  found  the 
way  to  his  heart.  Stimulated  by  this 
new  friendship,  Bartolommeo  roused  him- 
self from  lethargy  and  resumed  the  prac- 
tice of  art  with  increasing  success.  It 
is  pleasant  to  trace  the  influence  which 
the  two  artists  exerted  upon  each  other. 
The  older  man  had  experience  and  learn- 
ing; the  younger  had  enthusiasm  and 
genius.     Now   it   happened    that,  by  na- 


30  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

ture,  Bartolommeo  was  specially  gifted 
in  the  arrangement  of  large  composi- 
tions, with  many  figures  and  stately  ar- 
chitectural backgrounds.  It  is  by  these 
that  he  is  chiefly  known  to-day.  So  it  is 
the  more  interesting  that,  when  Raphael's 
sweet  simplicity  first  touched  him,  he 
turned  aside,  for  the  time,  from  these 
elaborate  plans  and  gave  himself  to  the 
portrayal  of  the  Madonna  in  that  simplest 
possible  way,  the  half-length  portrait  pic- 
ture. Several  of  these  he  painted  upon 
the  walls  of  his  own  convent,  glorifying 
that  dim  place  of  prayer  and  fasting  with 
visions  of  radiant  and  happy  motherhood. 
One  of  these  may  still  be  seen  in  the  cell 
sometimes  called  the  Capella  Giovanato. 
It  instantly  recalls  the  Tempi  Madonna  of 
Raphael,  both  in  the  pose  of  the  figure 
and  in  the  genuineness  of  feeling  ex- 
hibited. Damp  and  decay  have  warred  in 
vain  against   it,  and    the  modern   visitor 


THE    PORTRAIT    MADONNA.  3  I 

lingers  before  the  Mother  and  Babe  with 
hushed  admiration. 

Two  other  similar  frescoes  have  been 
removed  to  the  Academy.  They  show  the 
same  motherly  tenderness,  the  same  inno- 
cent and  beautiful  babyhood.  The  mother 
holds  her  child  close  in  her  arms,  pressing 
her  forehead  to  his,  or  bending  her  cheek 
to  receive  his  kiss.  He  throws  his  little 
arm  about  her  neck,  clinging  to  her  veil 
or  caressing  her  face. 

Besides  this  group  of  pictures  by  Bar- 
tolommeo,  there  are  other  scattered  in- 
stances of  portrait  Madonnas  during  the 
Italian  Renaissance,  by  men  too  great  to 
be  tied  to  the  fashions  of  their  day.  Man- 
tegna  was  such  a  painter,  and  Luini  an- 
other. All  told,  however,  their  pictures 
of  this  sort  make  up  a  class  too  rare  to 
deserve  longer  description. 

A  century  later,  the  Spanish  school 
occasionally  reverted  to  the  same  style  of 


32  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

treatment.  A  pair  of  notable  pictures  are 
the  Madonna  of  Bethlehem,  by  Alonzo 
Cano,  and  the  Madonna  of  the  Napkin, 
by  Murillo.  Both  are  in  Seville,  the  latter 
in  the  museum,  the  former  still  hanging 
in  its  original  place  in  the  cathedral. 

Of  Cano's  work,  a  great  authority1  on 
Spanish  art  has  written,  that,  "in  serene, 
celestial  beauty,  it  is  excelled  by  no  image 
of  the  blessed  Mary  ever  devised  in 
Spain."  Murillo's  picture  is  better  known, 
and  has  a  curious  interest  from  its  history. 
The  cook  in  the  Capuchin  monastery, 
where  the  artist  had  been  painting,  begged 
a  picture  as  a  parting  gift.  No  canvas 
being  at  hand,  a  napkin  was  offered  in- 
stead, on  which  the  master  painted  a 
Madonna,  unexcelled  among  his  works  in 
brilliancy  of  color. 

As  the  portrait  picture  was  the  first 
style  of  Madonna  known  to  art,  so,  also,  it 

1  Stiiling-Maxwell,  in  "  Annals  of  the  Artists  of  Spain." 


Gabriel  Max.  — Madonna  and  Child. 


THE    PORTRAIT    MADONNA.  35 

is  the  last.  By  a  leap  of  nearly  a  thou- 
sand years,  we  have  returned,  in  our  own 
day,  to  the  method  of  the  tenth  century. 
It  is  strange  that  what  was  once  a  matter 
of  necessity  should  at  last  become  an 
object  of  choice.  In  the  beginning  of 
Madonna  art,  the  limited  resources  of  tech- 
nique precluded  any  attempts  to  make  a 
more  elaborate  setting.  Such  difficulties 
no  longer  stand  in  the  way,  and  where  we 
now  see  a  portrait  Madonna,  the  artist  has 
deliberately  discarded  all  accessories  in 
order  better  to  idealize  his  theme. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  portrait  Ma- 
donnas by  Gabriel  Max.  Here  are  no 
details  to  divert  the  attention  from  mother- 
hood, pure  and  simple.  We  do  not  ask 
of  the  subject  whether  she  is  of  high  or 
of  low  estate,  a  queen  or  a  peasant.  We 
have  only  to  look  into  the  earnest,  lov- 
ing face  to  read  that  here  is  a  mother. 
There  are  two  pictures  of  this  sort,  evi- 


36  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

dently  studied  from  the  same  Bohemian 
models.  In  one,  the  mother  looks  down 
at  her  babe;  in  the  other,  directly  at 
the  spectator,  with  a  singularly  vision- 
ary expression.  When  weary  with  the 
senseless  repetition  of  the  set  compo- 
sitions of  past  ages,  we  turn  with  relief 
to  a  simple  portrait  mother  like  this,  at 
once  the  most  primitive  and  the  most 
advanced  form  of  Madonna  art.  It  is 
only  another  case  where  the  simplest  is 
the  best. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    MADONNA    ENTHRONED. 

N  every  true  home  the  mother  is 
queen,  enthroned  in  the  hearts 
of  her  loving  children.  There  is, 
therefore,  a  beautiful  double  significance, 
which  we  should  always  have  in  mind, 
in  looking  at  the  Madonna  enthroned. 
According  to  the  theological  conception 
of  the  period  in  which  it  was  first  pro- 
duced, the  picture  stands  for  the  Virgin 
Mother  as  Queen  of  Heaven.  Understood 
typically,  it  represents  the  exaltation  of 
motherhood. 

In  the  history  of  art  development,  the 
enthroned  Madonna  begins  where  the  por- 
trait Madonna  ends.  We  may  date  it 
from  the  thirteenth  century,  when  Cima- 

37 


38  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

bue,  of  Florence,  and  Guido,  of  Siena, 
produced  their  famous  pictures.  Similar 
types  had  previously  appeared  in  the 
mosaic  decorations  of  churches,  but  now, 
for  the  first  time,  they  were  worthily  set 
forth  in  panel  pictures. 

The  story  of  Cimabue's  Madonna  is 
one  of  the  oft-told  tales  we  like  to  hear 
repeated.  How  on  a  certain  day,  about 
1270,  Charles  of  Anjou  was  passing 
through  Florence ;  how  he  honored  the 
studio  of  Cimabue  by  a  visit;  how  the 
Madonna  was  then  first  uncovered ;  how 
the  people  shouted  so  joyously  that  the 
street  was  thereafter  named  the  Borgo 
dei  Allegri ;  and  how  the  great  picture 
was  finally  borne  in  triumphal  procession 
to  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  Novella, — 
all  these  are  the  scenes  in  the  pretty 
drama.  The  late  Sir  Frederick  Leighton 
has  preserved  for  future  centuries  this 
story,  already  six  hundred  years  old,  in  a 


THE    MADONNA    ENTHRONED.  39 

charming  pageant  picture:  "  Cimabue's 
Madonna  carried  through  the  streets  of 
Florence."  This  was  the  first  work  ever 
exhibited  by  the  English  artist,  and  was 
an  important  step  in  the  career  which 
ended  in  the  presidency  of  the  Royal 
Academy. 

Cimabue's  Madonna  still  hangs  in  San- 
ta Maria  Novella,  over  the  altar  of  the 
Ruccellai  chapel,  and  thither  many  a  pil- 
grim takes  his  way  to  honor  the  memory 
of  the  father  of  modern  painting.  The 
throne  is  a  sort  of  carved  armchair,  very 
simple  in  form,  but  richly  overlaid  with 
gold  ;  the  surrounding  background  is  filled 
with  adoring  angels.  Here  sits  the  Ma- 
donna, in  stiff  solemnity,  holding  her  child 
on  her  lap.  If  we  find  it  hard  to  admire 
her  beauty,  we  must  note  the  superiority 
of  the  picture  to  its  predecessors. 

For  the  enthroned  Madonna  in  a  really 
attractive    and    beautiful   form,  we   must 


40  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

pass  at  once  to  the  period  of  full  art 
development.  In  the  interval,  many 
variations  upon  the  theme  have  been  in- 
vented. The  throne  may  be  of  any  size, 
shape,  or  material;  the  composition  may 
consist  of  any  number  of  figures.  The 
Madonna,  seated  or  standing,  is  now  the 
centre  of  an  assembly  of  personages  sym- 
metrically grouped  about  her.  There  is 
little  or  no  unity  of  action  among  them; 
each  one  is  an  independent  figure.  The 
guard  of  honor  may  be  composed  of 
saints,  as  in  Montagna's  Madonna,  of  the 
Brera,  Milan ;  or  again  it  is  a  company  of 
angels,  as  in  the  Berlin  Madonna,  at- 
tributed to  Botticelli,  similar  to  which  is 
the  picture  by  Ghirlandajo  in  the  Uffizi 
Gallery.  Where  saints  are  represented, 
each  one  is  marked  by  some  special  em- 
blem, the  identification  of  which  makes, 
in  itself,  an  interesting  study.  St.  Peter's 
key,   St.    Paul's    sword,    St.    Catherine's 


THE    MADONNA    ENTHRONED.  41 

wheel,  and  St.  Barbara's  tower  soon  be- 
come familiar  symbols  to  those  fond  of 
this  kind  of  lore. 

Among  the  idealized  presences  about 
the  Virgin's  throne  may  sometimes  be 
seen  the  prosaic  figure  of  the  donor, 
whose  munificence  has  made  the  picture 
possible.  This  is  well  illustrated  in  the 
famous  Madonna  of  Victory  in  the  Louvre, 
painted  in  commemoration  of  the  Battle 
of  Fornovo,  where  Mantegna  represents 
Francesco  Gonzaga,  commander  of  the 
Venetian  forces,  kneeling  at  the  Virgin's 
feet. 

A  charming  feature  in  many  enthroned 
Madonnas  is  the  group  of  cherubs  below, 
—  one,  two,  or  the  mystic  three.  They 
are  not  the  exclusive  possession  of  any 
single  school  of  art ;  Bartolommeo  and 
Andrea  del  Sarto  of  the  Florentines, 
Francia  of  the  Bolognese,  and  Bellini 
and  Cima  of  the  Venetians   were  partic- 


42  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

ularly  partial  to  them.  The  treatment  in 
Northern  Italy  gives  them  a  more  definite 
purpose  in  the  composition  than  does  that 
of  Florence,  for  here  they  are  always 
musicians,  playing  on  all  sorts  of  instru- 
ments,—  the  violin,  the  mandolin,  or  the 
pipe. 

Bartolommeo  was  specially  successful 
in  the  subject  of  the  enthroned  Madonna, 
having  fine  gifts  of  composition  united 
with  profound  religious  earnestness.  The 
great  picture  in  the  Pitti  gallery  at  Flor- 
ence may  serve  as  a  typical  example. 
Andrea  del  Sarto's  chef-  d'ceuvre  —  the 
Madonna  di  San  Francesco  (Uffizi)  —  may 
also  be  assigned  to  this  class,  although 
the  arrangement  is  entirely  novel.  The 
Virgin,  holding  the  babe  in  her  arms, 
stands  on  a  sort  of  pedestal,  carved  at 
the  corners  with  a  design  of  harpies,  from 
which  the  picture  is  often  known  as  the 
Madonna  of  the  Harpies.     The  pedestal 


Perugino. —  Madonna  and  Saints.     (Detail.) 


THE    MADONNA    ENTHRONED.  45 

throne  is  also  seen  in  two  of  Correggio's 
Dresden  pictures,  but  here  the  Virgin  is 
seated,  with  the  child  on  her  lap.  An 
exceedingly  simple  throne  Madonna  is 
that  of  Luini,  in  the  Brera  at  Milan, 
where  the  Virgin  sits  on  a  plain  coping 
not  at  all    high. 

A  beautiful  Madonna  enthroned  is  by 
Perugino,  in  the  Vatican  Gallery  at  Rome ; 
one  of  the  artist's  best  works  in  power  and 
vivacity  of  color.  The  throne  is  an  archi- 
tectural structure  of  elegant  simplicity  of 
design,  apparently  of  carved  and  inlaid 
marble.  The  Virgin  sits  in  quiet  dignity, 
her  face  bent  towards  the  bishops  at  her 
right,  St.  Costantius  and  St.  Herculanus. 
On  the  other  side  stand  the  youthful  St. 
Laurence  and  St.  Louis  of  Toulouse. 
Although  Perugino  was  an  exceedingly 
prolific  artist,  he  did  not  often  choose  this 
particular  subject.  On  this  account  the 
picture  is  especially  interesting,  and  also 


46  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

because  it  is  the  original  model  of  well 
known  works  by  two  of  the  Umbrian 
painter's  most  illustrious  pupils. 

Many,  indeed,  were  the  apprentices 
trained  in  the  famous  bottega  at  Perugia, 
but,  among  them  all,  Raphael  and  Pintu- 
ricchio  took  the  lead.  These  were  the 
two  who  honored  their  master  by  repeat- 
ing, with  modifications  of  their  own,  the 
beautiful  composition  of  the  Vatican. 
Pinturicchio's  picture  is  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Andrea,  at  Perugia.  A  charming 
feature,  which  he  introduced,  is  a  little  St. 
John,  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  throne. 
Raphael's  picture  is  the  so-called  Ansidei 
Madonna,  of  the  National  Gallery,  Lon- 
don, purchased  by  the  English  govern- 
ment, in  1885,  for  the  fabulous  price  of 
,£72,000.  The  composition  is  here  re- 
duced to  its  simplest  possible  form,  with 
only  one  saint  on  each  side,  —  St.  Nicholas 
on  the  right,  St.  John  the  Baptist  on  the 


THE    MADONNA    ENTHRONED.  47 

left.  The  Virgin  and  child  give  no  atten- 
tion to  these  personages,  but  are  absorbed 
in  a  book  which  is  open  on  the  Mother's 
knee. 

Raphael  had  no  great  liking  for  this 
style  of  picture,  which  was  rather  too 
formal  for  his  taste.  It  is  noticeable 
that,  in  the  few  instances  where  he 
painted  it,  he  took  the  suggestion,  as 
here,  from  some  previous  work.  Thus 
his  Madonna  of  St.  Anthony,  also  in  the 
National  Gallery  (loaned  by  the  King  of 
Naples),  was  based  upon  an  old  picture 
by  Bernardino  di  Mariotto,  according  to 
the  strict  orders  of  the  nuns  for  whose 
convent  it  was  a  commission.  The 
Baldacchino  Madonna  of  the  Pitti,  at 
Florence,  is  closely  akin  to  Bartolom- 
meo's  composition  in  the  same  gallery. 

Glancing,  briefly,  at  these  scattered  ex- 
amples, we  learn  that  the  enthroned  Ma- 
donna belongs  to  every  school  of  Italian 


48  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

art,  and  exhibits  an  astonishing  variety 
of  forms.  Probably  it  was  in  the  North 
of  Italy  that  it  flourished  most.  The 
Paduan  School  has  its  fine  representa- 
tion in  Mantegna's  picture,  already  re- 
ferred to ;  the  Brescian,  in  Moretto's 
Madonna  of  S.  Clemente ;  the  Veronese, 
in  Girolamo  dai  Libri's  splendid  altar 
piece  in  San  Giorgio  Maggiore;  the  Ber- 
gamesque,  in  Lotto's  Madonna  of  S.  Bar- 
tolommeo.  Above  all,  it  was  in  Venice, 
the  Queen  City  of  the  Adriatic,  that  the 
enthroned  Madonna  reached  the  greatest 
popularity:  the  spirit  of  the  composition 
was  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  Venetian 
love  of  pomp  and  ceremony. 

To  understand  Venetian  art  aright,  we 
must  distinguish  the  character  of  the 
earlier  and  later  periods.  With  Vivarini, 
Bellini  and  Cima,  the  Madonna  in  Trono 
was  the  expression  of  a  devout  religious 
feeling.    With  Titian,  Tintoretto,  and  Ver- 


THE    MADONNA    ENTHRONED.  49 

onese,  it  was  merely  one  among  many 
popular  art  subjects.  Thus  arose  two 
different  general  types.  The  earlier  Ma- 
donna was  a  somewhat  cold  type  of 
beauty;  the  faultless  regularity  of  her 
features  and  the  imperturbable  calm  of 
her  expression  make  her  rather  unap- 
proachable ;  but  she  shows  a  strong, 
sweet  purity  of  character,  worthy  of  pro- 
found respect. 

One  of  Cima's  most  important  works 
is  the  Madonna  of  this  type  in  the  Ven- 
ice Academy.  High  on  a  marble  throne, 
she  sits  under  a  pillared  portico,  behind 
which  stretches  a  pleasant  landscape. 
Three  saints  stand  on  each  side,  —  an 
old  man,  a  youth,  and  a  maiden.  On 
the  steps  sit  two  choristers  playing  the 
violin  and  mandolin. 

Palma's  great  altar-piece,  at  Vicenza, 
is  another  splendid  enthroned  Madonna. 
Attended  by  St.   George  and  St.   Lucy, 


50  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

and  entertained  by  a  musical  angel  seated 
at  her  feet,  the  Virgin  supports  her  beau- 
tiful boy,  as  he  gives  his  blessing. 

Bellini's  enthroned  Madonnas  are 
known  throughout  the  world.  The 
picture  by  which  he  established  his 
fame  was  one  of  this  class,  originally 
painted  for  a  chapel  in  San  Giobbe,  but 
now  hanging  in  the  Venice  Academy. 
Ruskin  has  pronounced  it  "  one  of  the 
greatest  pictures  ever  painted  in  Chris- 
tendom in  her  central  art  power."  It  is 
a  large  composition,  with  three  saints 
at  each  side,  and  three  choristers  below. 

The  Frari  Madonna  is  in  a  simpler 
vein,  and  consists  of  three  compartments, 
the  central  one  containing  the  Virgin's 
throne.  The  angioletti,  on  the  steps,  are 
probably  the  most  popular  of  their  charm- 
ing class  in  Venice. 

The  San  Zaccaria  Madonna  was 
painted   when    Bellini    was    over    eighty 


Giovanni  Bellini.  —  Madonna  of  San  Zaccaria.    (Detail.) 


THE    MADONNA    ENTHRONED.  53 

years  old,  and  has  certain  technical  qual- 
ities surpassing  any  the  artist  had  pre- 
viously attained.  The  depth  of  light 
and  shade  is  particularly  remarkable ;  the 
colors  rich  and  harmonious.  The  at- 
tendant saints  are  St.  Lucy  on  the  right, 
a  pretty  blonde  girl,  with  St.  Jerome  be- 
yond her,  absorbed  in  his  Bible;  oppo- 
site, stand  St.  Catherine,  pensively  looking 
down,  and  St.  Peter,  in  profound  medita- 
tion. The  entire  picture,  both  in  con- 
ception and  execution,  may  be  considered 
a  representative  example  of  the  times. 

Following  the  Bellini  school,  and  form- 
ing, as  it  were,  a  connecting  link  between 
the  earlier  and  the  later  art,  was  Giorgione. 
Less  than  a  score  of  existing  works  give 
witness  to  the  rare  spirit  of  this  master, 
who  was  spared  to  earth  only  thirty-four 
years.  These  are  of  a  quality  to  place 
him  among  the  immortals.  The  en- 
throned   Madonna  is  the  subject  of  two, 


54  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

one  in  the  Madrid  Gallery,  and  another 
at  Castel-Franco.  They  create  an  en- 
tirely distinct  Madonna  ideal,  —  a  poetic 
being,  who  sits,  with  drooping  head  and 
dreamy  eyes,  as  if  seeing  unspeakable 
visions. 

The  Castel-Franco  picture  expresses 
the  finest  elements  in  Venetian  charac- 
ter. Every  other  composition  seems 
elaborate  and  artificial  when  compared 
with  the  simplicity  of  this.  Other  Ma- 
donnas seem  almost  coarse  beside  such 
delicacy.  The  Virgin's  throne  is  of  an 
unusual  height,  —  a  double  plinth,  —  the 
upper  step  of  which  is  somewhat  above 
the  heads  of  the  attendant  saints,  Lib- 
erate and  Francis.  This  simple,  compo- 
sitional device  emphasizes  the  effect  of 
her  pensive  expression.  It  is  as  if  her 
high  meditations  set  her  apart  from 
human  companionship.  There  is,  in- 
deed,  something  almost   pathetic   in   her 


THE    MADONNA    ENTHRONED.  55 

isolation,  but  for  the  strength  of  character 
in  her  face.  The  color  scheme  is  as 
simple  and  beautiful  as  the  underlying 
conception.  The  Virgin's  tunic  is  of 
green,  and  the  mantle,  falling  from  the 
right  shoulder  and  lying  across  her  lap, 
is  red,  with  deep  shadows  in  its  large 
folds.  The  back  of  the  seat  is  covered 
with  a  strip  of  red  and  gold  embroidery. 

The  later  period  of  Venetian  art  is 
marked  by  a  new  ideal  of  the  Virgin. 
She  is  now  a  magnificent  creature  of 
flesh  and  blood.  Her  face  is  proud  and 
handsome ;  her  figure  large,  well-propor- 
tioned, and  somewhat  voluptuous.  No 
Bethlehem  stable  ever  sheltered  this 
haughty  beauty;  her  home  is  in  kings' 
palaces ;  she  belongs  distinctly  to  the 
realm  of  wealth  and  worldliness.  She 
has  never  known  sorrow,  anxiety,  or 
poverty;  life  has  brought  her  nothing 
but    pleasure    and    luxury.     Her    throne 


56  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

stands  no  longer  in  the  sacred  place  of 
some  inner  sanctuary,  where  angel  chor- 
isters make  music.  It  is  an  elevated 
platform,  at  one  side  of  the  composition, 
as  in  Titian's  Pesaro  altar-piece,  and 
Veronese's  Madonna  in  the  Venice  Aca- 
demy. This  gives  an  opportunity  for  a 
display  of  elaborate  draperies,  such  as 
we  may  see  in  Veronese's  picture. 

The  peculiar  qualities  of  art  in  Verona 
and  Venice  are  blended  in  Paolo  Veron- 
ese. No  artist  ever  enjoyed  more  the 
splendors  of  color,  or  combined  them  in 
more  enchanting  harmonies.  Such  gifts 
transform  the  commonest  materials,  and, 
though  his  Virgin  is  a  very  ordinary 
woman,  she  has  undeniable  charms.  An 
oft -copied  figure,  in  this  picture,  is  that 
of  the  little  St.  John,  a  universal  favorite 
among  child  lovers. 

The  reader  must  have  remarked  that, 
though  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  en- 


Veronese. —  Madonna  and  Saints. 


THE    MADONNA    ENTHRONED.  59 

throned  Madonna  is  that  of  queenship, 
the  Virgin  wears  no  crown  in  any  of 
the  pictures  thus  far  cited ;  the  crowned 
Madonna  is  not  characteristic  of  Italian 
art.  It  is  found  occasionally  in  mosaics 
from  the  eighth  to  the  eleventh  centur- 
ies, and  in  some  of  the  early  votive  pic- 
tures, but  does  not  appear  in  the  later 
period  except  in  a  few  Venetian  pictures 
by  Giovanni  da  Murano  and  Carlo  Cri- 
velli.  The  same  idea  was  often  carried 
out  by  placing  two  hovering  angels  over 
the  Virgin's  head,  holding  the  crown  be- 
tween them.  Botticelli's  Madonna  of  the 
Inkhorn  is  treated  in  this  way. 

The  crown  is  essentially  Teutonic  in 
origin  and  character.  Turning  to  the 
representative  art  of  Germany  and  Bel- 
gium, we  find  the  Virgin  almost  invari- 
ably wearing  a  crown,  whether  she  sits  on 
a  throne,  or  in  a  pastoral  environment. 
No  better  example  could  be  named  than 


6o  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

the  celebrated  Holbein  Madonna,  of 
Darmstadt,  known  chiefly  through  the 
copy  in  the  Dresden  Gallery.  Here  the 
imposing  height  of  the  Virgin  is  rendered 
still  more  impressive  by  a  high,  golden 
crown,  richly  embossed  and  edged  with 
pearls.  Beneath  this  her  blond  hair  falls 
loosely  over  her  beautiful  neck,  and  gleams 
on  the  blue  garment  hanging  over  her 
shoulders.  Strong  and  tender,  this  noble 
figure  sums  up  the  finest  elements  in  the 
Madonna  art  of  the  North. 

A  simple  and  lovely  form  for  the 
Madonna's  crown  is  the  narrow  golden 
fillet  set  with  pearls,  singly  or  in  clusters. 
This  is  placed  over  the  Virgin's  brow  just 
at  the  edge  of  the  hair,  which  is  otherwise 
unconfined.  This  is  seen  on  Madonnas 
by  Van  Eyck  (Frankfort),  Diirer  (wood- 
cut of  15 13),  Memling  (Bruges),  Schon- 
gauer  (Munich). 
.  In  the  enthroned   Madonna  by  Quen- 


QUENTIN    MASSYS. —  MADONNA    AND    CHILD. 


THE    MADONNA    ENTHRONED.  63 

tin  Massys,  in  the  Berlin  Gallery,  we  have 
many  typical  characteristics  of  Northern 
art.  The  throne  itself  is  exceedingly  rich, 
ornamented  with  agate  pillars  with  em- 
bossed capitals  of  gold.  The  Virgin  has 
the  fine  features  and  earnest,  tender 
expression  which  recalls  earlier  Flemish 
painters.  Her  dress  falls  in  rich,  heavy 
folds  upon  the  marble  pavement.  But,  as 
with  Van  Eyck  and  Memling,  Holbein 
and  Schongauer,  fine  clothes  do  not  con- 
ceal her  girlish  simplicity  or  her  loving 
heart.  A  low  table,  spread  with  food, 
stands  at  the  left, —  a  curious  domestic 
element  to  introduce,  and  thoroughly 
Northern  in  realism. 

Considered  as  a  symbol  of  the  exalta- 
tion of  motherhood,  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  throne  should  go  out  of  fashion ; 
but  if  it  is  to  appear,  it  must  be  used 
intelligently,  and  with  some  adaptation  to 
present  modes  of  thought,  not   servilely 


64  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

imitated  from  the  forms  of  a  by-gone  age. 
This  is  a  fact  too  little  appreciated  by  the 
artists,  of  to-day.  Many  modern  pictures 
could  be  cited  —  by  Bouguereau,  Itten- 
bach,  and  others  —  of  enthroned  Madon- 
nas in  which  is  adopted  the  form,  but 
not  the  spirit,  of  the  Italian  Rennaissance. 
In  such  works,  the  setting  is  a  mere 
affectation  entirely  out  of  taste.  If  we 
are  to  have  a  throne,  let  us  have  a 
Madonna  who  is  a  veritable  queen. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    MADONNA    IN    THE    SKY. 
(the  madonna  in  gloria.) 

:E  have  seen  that  the  first  Madon- 
nas were  painted  against  a  back- 
ground either  of  solid  gold,  or 
of  cherub  figures,  and  that  the  latter  style 
of  setting  was  continued  in  the  early 
pictures  of  the  enthroned  Madonna.  The 
effect  was  to  idealize  the  subject,  and 
carry  it  into  the  region  of  the  heavenly. 
This  was  the  germinal  idea  which  grew 
into  the  "  Madonna  in  Gloria." 

The  glory  was  originally  a  sort  of  nim- 
bus of  a  larger  order,  surrounding  the 
entire  figure,  instead  of  merely  the  head. 
It  was  oval  in  shape,  like  the  almond  or 
mandorla. 

65 


66  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

A  picture  of  this  class  is  the  famous 
Madonna  della  Stella,  of  Fra  Angelico. 
It  is  in  a  beautiful  Gothic  tabernacle, 
which  is  the  sole  ornament  of  a  cell  in 
San  Marco,  Florence.  At  every  step  in 
these  sacred  precincts,  we  meet  some 
reminder  of  the  Angelic  Brother.  How 
the  gray  walls  blossomed,  under  his  brush, 
into  forms  and  colors  of  eternal  beauty! 
After  seeing  the  larger  wall-paintings  in 
corridors  and  refectory,  this  little  gem 
seems  to  epitomize  his  choicest  gifts.  A 
rich  frame,  fit  setting  for  the  jewel,  en- 
closes an  outer  circle  of  adoring  angels, 
and  within,  the  central  panel  contains 
only  the  full  length  figure  of  the  Virgin 
with  her  child,  against  a  mandorla  formed 
of  golden  rays  running  from  centre  to  cir- 
cumference. The  Madonna  is  enveloped 
in  a  long,  dark  blue  cloak,  drawn  around 
her  head  like  a  Byzantine  veil.  A  single 
star  gleams  above  her  brow,  from  which 


Fra  Angelico. —  .Madonna   della   Stella. 


THE    MADONNA    IN    THE    SKY.  69 

is  derived  the  title  of  the  picture.  She 
holds  her  child  fondly,  and  he,  with  re- 
sponsive affection,  nestles  against  his 
mother,  pressing  his  little  face  into  her 
neck.  Faithful  to  the  standards  of  his 
predecessors,  and  untouched  by  the  new 
spirit  of  naturalism  all  about  him,  the 
monk  painter  preserves,  in  his  conception, 
the  most  sacred  traditions  of  past  ages, 
and  yet  unites  with  them  an  element 
of  love  and  tenderness  which  appeals 
strongly  to  every  human   heart. 

It  is  but  a  step  from  this  earlier  form 
of  the  Madonna  in  Gloria  to  the  more 
modern  style  of  the  Madonna  in  the  Sky, 
where  the  field  of  vision  is  enlarged,  and 
we  see  the  Virgin  and  child  raised  above 
the  surface  of  the  earth.  In  some  pic- 
tures, her  elevation  is  very  slight.  There 
is  a  curious  composition,  by  Andrea  del 
Sarto  (Berlin  Gallery),  where  we  are 
puzzled  to  know    if  the  Madonna   is  en- 


JO  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

throned  or  enskied.  A  flight  of  steps 
in  the  centre  leads  up  as  if  to  a  throne, 
but  above  these  the  Virgin  sits  in  a 
niche,  on  a  bank  of  clouds. 

In  Correggio's  Madonna  of  St.  Sebas- 
tian, in  the  Dresden  Gallery,  the  Virgin 
seems  to  be  descending  from  heaven  to 
earth  with  her  babe,  and  the  surrounding 
clouds  and  cherubs  rest  literally  upon  the 
heads  of  the  saints  who  are  honored  by 
the  vision. 

In  other  pictures  the  dividing  line 
between  earth  and  heaven  is  much  more 
strongly  marked.  We  have  a  landscape 
below,  then  a  stratum  of  intervening  air, 
and,  in  the  upper  sky,  the  Madonna  with 
her  child.  The  lower  part  of  the  picture 
is  occupied  by  a  company  of  saints,  to 
whom  the  heavenly  vision  is  vouchsafed ; 
or,  in  rare  cases,  by  cherubs.  The  Virgin 
appears  in  a  cloud  of  cherub  heads, 
or  accompanied    by  a   few   child  -  angels. 


Umbrian  School.  —  Glorification  of  the  Virgin. 


THE    MADONNA    IN    THE    SKY.  73 

There  are  a  few  pictures  in  which  her 
mother,  St.  Anne,  sits  with  her.  Adoring 
seraphs  sometimes  attend,  one  on  each 
side,  or  even  sainted  personages.  All 
these  variations  are  exemplified  in  the 
pictures  which  we  are  to  consider. 

The  first  has  come  down  to  us  from  the 
hand  of  some  unknown  Umbrian  painter. 
In  the  National  Gallery,  London,  where 
it  now  hangs,  it  was  once  attributed  to 
Lo  Spagna,  but  is  now  entered  in  the 
catalogue  as  nameless.  It  matters  little 
whether  or  not  we  know  the  name  of  the 
master ;  he  could  ask  no  higher  tribute  to 
his  talent  than  the  universal  admiration 
which  his  picture  commands. 

In  the  foreground  of  a  quiet  Umbrian 
lanscape  is  a  marble  balcony,  on  the  rail- 
ing of  which  sit  two  captivating  little  boy 
choristers.  One  roguish  fellow  pipes  on  a 
trumpet,  while  the  other,  his  face  tip-tilted 
to  the  heavenly  vision,  makes  music  on  a 


74  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

small  guitar.  Above,  on  a  cloud,  sits  the 
Virgin,  with  the  sweet,  mystic  smile  on 
her  face,  so  characteristic  of  Umbrian  art. 
She  supports  her  babe  with  her  right  arm, 
and  in  her  left  hand  carries  a  lily  stalk. 
The  child,  standing  on  his  mother's  knee 
and  clinging  to  her  neck,  turns  his  face  out 
with  sweet  earnestness.  In  clouds  at  the 
side,  tiny  cherubs  bear  tapers,  while  others, 
floating  above,  hold  a  large  crown  just 
over  her  head. 

Although  we  cannot  limit  this  style  of 
picture  to  any  special  locality,  it  appears 
to  have  found  much  favor  in  the  art  of 
Northern  Italy.  In  the  Brescian  school, 
Moretto  was  unusually  fond  of  the  subject. 
His  treatment  of  the  theme  is  somewhat 
heavy;  there  is  little  of  the  ethereal  in 
his  celestial  vision,  either  in  the  type  of 
womanhood  or  in  the  style  of  arrange- 
ment. In  defiance  of  the  law  of  gravita- 
tion, he  poses  his  upper  figures  so  as  to 


Moretto. —  Madonna  in  (Ilory. 


THE    MADONNA    IN    THE    SKY.  77 

form  a  solid  pyramid,  wide  at  the  base, 
and  tapering  abruptly  to  the  apex. 

In  the  glorified  Madonna  of  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  Brescia,  the  pyramidal 
effect  is  accentuated  by  curtains  draped 
back  on  either  side  of  the  upper  part  of 
the  composition.  In  the  Madonna  of  San 
Giorgio  Maggiore,  at  Verona,  we  have 
a  much  more  attractive  picture.  The 
"  gloria "  encompassing  the  vision  is 
clearly  defined,  giving  so  strong  an  effect 
of  the  supernatural  that  we  cease  to  judge 
the  composition  by  ordinary  standards  of 
natural  law.  The  Virgin's  white  veil 
flutters  from  her  head  as  if  caught  by 
some  heavenly  breeze.  Her  cloak  floats 
about  her  by  the  same  mysterious  force, 
held  in  graceful  festoons  by  winged  cherub 
heads. 

Below  is  a  group  of  five  virgin  martyrs, 
with  St.  Cecilia  in  the  centre,  wearing  a 
crown  of  roses;  St.  Lucia  holds  the  awl, 


78  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

the  instrument  of  her  torture,  looking 
down  at  St.  Catherine,  who  leans  against 
her  terrible  wheel ;  St.  Agnes,  on  the  other 
side,  reads  quietly  from  a  book  while  she 
caresses  her  lamb,  and  St.  Barbara  stands 
behind  her,  with  eyes  lifted  to  the  sky. 
They  are  all  splendid  young  Amazons, 
recalling  Moretto's  fine  St.  Justina  of  the 
Vienna  Gallery.  There  is  no  trace  of 
ascetism  in  their  strong,  well-developed 
figures,  and  in  their  faces  no  suggestion 
of  an  unhealthy  pietism. 

Moretto's  ideals  were  an  anticipation  of 
the  most  advanced  ideas  of  the  modern 
science  of  physical  culture.  His  Madonna 
and  saints  derive  their  beauty  neither  from 
over  refinement  on  the  one  hand,  nor 
from  sensuous  charms  on  the  other,  but 
from  sane  and  harmonious  self-develop- 
ment. 

The  Berlin  Gallery  contains  a  third 
glorified  Madonna  by  the  same  painter. 


THE    MADONNA    IN    THE    SKY.  79 

treated  as  a  Holy  Family.  St.  Elizabeth 
sits  beside  the  Virgin,  who  holds  her  own 
boy  on  her  right  side,  while  bending  to 
embrace  the  little  St.  John  with  the  left 
arm.  So  large  a  group  is  not  appropri- 
ately treated  in  this  way,  yet  the  picture 
is  so  fine  a  work  of  art  as  to  disarm 
criticism. 

Still  another  representative  of  the  Bres- 
cian  school  must  be  considered  in  the 
person  of  Savoldo.  Born  of  a  noble 
family,  and  following  painting  as  an 
amusement  rather  than  as  an  actual 
profession,  his  works  are  rare,  and  one 
of  the  finest  examples  of  his  art  is  the 
Glorification  of  the  Virgin,  in  the  Brera 
Gallery,  at  Milan.  The  mandorla-shaped 
glory  surrounds  the  Virgin's  figure,  studded 
with  faintly  discerned  cherub  heads.  On 
either  side,  a  musical  angel  is  in  adora- 
tion; four  saints  stand  on  the  earth  below. 
The  entire  conception   is   rendered  with 


80  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

the  utmost  delicacy :  the  grace  and  beauty 
of  the  Madonna  are  of  exactly  the  qual- 
ity to  make  her  appearance  a  beatific 
vision. 

From  Brescia  we  turn  to  Verona,  where 
we  again  find  many  pictures  of  the  beau- 
tiful subject.  There  are,  in  the  churches 
of  Verona,  at  least  three  notable  works,  by 
Gianfrancesco  Caroto,  in  this  style.  One 
is  in  Sant'  Anastasia,  another  is  in  San 
Giorgio,  and  the  third  —  the  artist's  best 
existing  work  —  is  in  San  Fermo  Mag- 
giore,  and  shows  the  Virgin's  mother,  St. 
Anne,  seated  with  her  in  the  clouds. 

Girolamo  dai  Libri  was  a  few  years 
younger  than  Caroto,  and  at  one  period 
was,  to  some  extent,  an  imitator  of  the 
latter.  Beginning  as  a  miniaturist,  he 
finally  attained  a  high  place  among  the 
Veronese  artists  of  the  first  order.  His 
characteristics  can  nowhere  be  seen  to 
better  advantage  than  in  the  Madonna  of 


THE    MADONNA    IN    THE    SKY.  8 1 

St.  Andrew  and  St.  Peter,  in  the  Verona 
Gallery.  The  Virgin  is  in  an  oval  glory, 
edged  all  around  with  small,  fleecy  clouds. 
She  has  a  beautiful,  matronly  face,  with 
abundant  hair,  smoothly  brushed  over  her 
forehead.  The  two  apostles,  below,  are  fine, 
strong  figures,  full  of  virility. 

Morando,  or  Cavazzola,  was,  doubtless, 
the  most  gifted  of  the  older  school  of 
Verona,  possessing  some  of  the  best  qual- 
ities of  the  later  master,  Paolo  Veronese. 
We  should  not  leave  the  school,  therefore, 
without  mentioning  a  remarkable  contri- 
bution he  added  to  this  class  of  pictures  in 
his  latest  altar-piece.  Here  the  upper  air 
is  filled  with  a  sacred  company,  the  Virgin 
and  child  are  attended  by  St.  Francis  and 
St.  Anthony,  and  surrounded  by  seven 
allegorical  figures  to  represent  the  cardi- 
nal virtues.  Below  are  six  saints,  specially 
honored  in  the  Franciscan  Order.  The 
picture  is  called  the  finest  production  of 


82  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

the  school  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  six- 
teenth century. 

In  the  Venetian  school,  Titian  and 
Tintoretto  both  painted  the  subject  of 
the  Madonna  in  glory,  but  the  pictures 
are  not  notable  compared  with  many 
others  from  their  hands. 

From  the  North  of  Italy  we  naturally 
turn  next  to  the  South,  to  inquire  what 
Raphael  was  doing  at  the  same  period  in 
Rome.  Occupied  by  many  great  works 
under  the  papal  patronage,  he  still  found 
time  for  his  favorite  subject  of  the  Ma- 
donna, painting  some  pictures  in  the  styles 
already  mastered,  and  two  for  the  first 
time  in  the  style  of  the  Madonna  in  the 
sky. 

The  first  was  the  Foligno  Madonna, 
now  in  the  Vatican  Gallery.  It  was 
painted  in  151 1  for  the  pope's  secre- 
tary, Sigismund  Conti,  as  a  thank-offering 
for  having  escaped  the  danger  of  a  fall- 


Spanish  School.  —  Madonna  on  the  Crescent  Moon. 


THE    MADONNA    IN    THE    SKY.  85 

ing  meteor  at  Foligno.  No  thoughtful 
observer  can  be  slow  to  recognize  the 
superiority  of  this  composition  over  all 
others  of  its  kind  in  point  of  unity.  Here 
is  no  formal  row  of  saints,  each  absorbed 
in  his  or  her  own  reflections,  apart  from 
any  common  purpose.  On  the  contrary, 
all  unite  in  paying  honor  to  the  Queen 
of  Heaven.  Not  less  superior  to  his  con- 
temporaries was  the  painter's  skill  in 
arranging  the  figures  of  Mother  and  child 
with  such  grace  of  equilibrium  that  they 
seem  to  float  in  the  upper  air. 

In  the  Sistine  Madonna,  Raphael  car- 
ried this  form  of  composition  to  the 
highest  perfection.  So  simple  and  ap- 
parently unstudied  is  its  beauty,  that 
we  do  not  realize  the  masterliness  of  its 
art.  We  seem  to  be  standing  before  an 
altar,  or,  better  still,  before  an  open  win- 
dow, from  which  the  curtains  have  been 
drawn  aside,  allowing  us  to  look  directly 


86  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

into  the  heaven  of  heavens.  A  cloud  of 
cherub  faces  fills  the  air,  from  the  midst 
of  which,  and  advancing  towards  us,  is 
the  Virgin  with  her  child.  The  down- 
ward force  of  gravity  is  perfectly  coun- 
terbalanced by  the  vital  energy  of  her 
progress  forward.  There  is  here  no 
uncomfortable  sense,  on  the  part  of 
the  spectator,  that  natural  law  is  disre- 
garded. While  the  seated  Madonna  in 
glory  seems  often  in  danger  of  falling 
to  earth,  this  full-length  figure  in  motion 
avoids  any  such  solidity  of  effect. 

The  figures  on  either  side  are  also 
so  posed  as  to  arouse  no  surprise  at 
their  presence.  We  should  have  said 
beforehand  that  heavy  pontifical  robes 
would  be  absurdly  incongruous  in  such 
a  composition,  but  Raphael  solves  the 
problem  so  simply  that  few  would  sus- 
pect the  difficulties.  The  final  touch  of 
beauty  is  added  in  the  cherub  heads   be- 


L 


BOUGUEREAU.  —  MADONNA    OF    THE    ANGELS. 


THE    MADONNA    IN    THE    SKY.  39 

low,  recalling  the  naive  charm  of  the 
similar  figures  in  the  Umbrian  picture 
we  have  considered. 

After  the  time  of  Raphael,  a  pretty 
form  of  Madonna  in  glory  was  occa- 
sionally painted,  showing  the  Virgin  with 
her  babe  sitting  above  the  crescent  moon. 
The  conception  appears  more  than  once 
in  the  paintings  of  Albert  Durer,  and 
later,  artists  of  all  schools  adopted  it. 
Sassoferrato's  picture  in  the  Vatican 
Gallery  is  a  popular  example.  Tinto- 
retto's, in  Berlin,  is  not  so  well  known. 
In  the  Dresden  Gallery  is  a  work,  by 
an  unknown  Spanish  painter  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  differing  from  the 
others  in  that  the  Virgin  is  standing,  as 
in  the  oft-repeated  Spanish  pictures  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception. 

It  is  of  pictures  like  this  that  our  poet 
Longfellow  is  speaking,  when  he  thus 
apostrophizes  the  Virgin: 


90  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

"  Thou  peerless  queen  of  air, 
As  sandals  to  thy  feet  the  silver  moon  dost  wear." 

The  enskied  Madonna  involves  many 
technical  difficulties  of  composition,  and 
demands  a  high  order  of  artistic  imagina- 
tion. It  could  hardly  be  called  a  frequent 
subject  in  the  period  of  greatest  artistic 
daring,  and  no  modern  painter  has  shown 
any  adequate  understanding  of  the  sub- 
ject, though  there  are  not  lacking  those 
who  have  made  the  attempt.  Bodenhau- 
sen,  Defregger,  Bouguereau,  have  all  fol- 
lowed Raphael  in  representing  the  Queen 
of  Heaven  as  a  full-length  figure  in  the 
sky;  but  their  conception  has  not  the 
dignity  corresponding  to  the  style  of  treat- 
ment. 

Impatient  and  dissatisfied  with  such 
modern  art,  we  turn  back  to  the  old  mas- 
ters with  new  appreciation  of  their  great 
gifts. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    PASTORAL    MADONNA. 

iT  was  many  centuries  before  art, 
at  first  devoted  exclusively  to 
figure  painting,  turned  to  the 
study  of  natural  scenery.  Thus  it  was 
that  Madonna  pictures,  of  various  kinds, 
had  long  been  established  in  popular  favor 
before  the  idea  of  a  landscape  setting  was 
introduced.  We  need  not  look  for  inter- 
esting pictures  of  this  class  before  the 
latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  it 
was  not  until  the  sixteenth  that  the  pas- 
toral Madonna,  in  its  highest  form,  was 
first  produced.  Even  then  there  was  no 
great  number  which  show  a  really  sympa- 
thetic love  of  nature. 

In  the  ideal  pastoral,  the  landscape  en- 
91 


92  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

tirely  fills  the  picture,  and  the  figures  are, 
as  it  were,  an  integral  part  of  it.  Such 
pictures  are  so  rare  that  we  write  in  golden 
letters  the  names  of  the  few  who  have 
given  us  these  treasures. 

Raphael's  justly  comes  first  in  the  list. 
His  earliest  Madonnas  show  his  love  of 
natural  scenery,  in  the  charming  glimpses 
of  Umbrian  landscape,  which  form  the 
background.  These  are  treated,  as  Muntz 
points  out,  with  marked  "simplicity  of 
outline  and  breadth  of  design/'  They  are, 
however,  but  the  beginning  of  the  great 
things  that  were  to  follow.  The  young 
painter's  sojourn  in  Florence  witnessed  a 
marvellous  development  of  his  powers. 
Here  he  was  surrounded  by  the  greatest 
artists  of  his  time,  and  he  was  quick  to 
absorb  into  himself  something  of  excel- 
lence from  them  all.  His  fertility  of  pro- 
duction was  amazing.  In  a  period  of  four 
years  (1504- 1508),  interrupted  by  visits  to 


THE    PASTORAL    MADONNA.  93 

Perugia  and  Urbino,  he  produced  about 
twenty  Madonnas,  in  which  we  may  trace 
the  new  influences  affecting  him. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci  was,  doubtless,  his 
greatest  inspiration,  and  it  was  from  this 
master-student  of  nature  that  the  young 
man  learned,  with  new  enthusiasm,  the 
value  of  going  directly  to  Nature  herself. 
The  fruit  of  this  new  study  is  a  group  of 
lovely  pastoral  Madonnas,  which  are  en- 
tirely unique  as  Nature  idyls.  Three  of 
these  are  among  the  world's  great  favorites. 
They  are,  the  Belle  Jardiniere  (The  Beau- 
tiful Gardener),  of  the  Louvre  Gallery, 
Paris ;  the  Madonna  in  Griinen  (The  Ma- 
donna in  the  Meadow),  in  the  Belvedere 
Gallery,  Vienna;  and  the  Cardellino  Ma- 
donna (The  Madonna  of  the  Goldfinch), 
of  the  Uffizi,  Florence. 

We  turn  from  one  to  another  of  these 
three  beautiful  pictures,  always  in  doubt 
as  to  which  is  the  greatest.    Fortunately, 


94  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

it  is  a  question  which  there  is  no  occasion 
to  decide,  as  every  lover  of  art  may  be  the 
happy  possessor  of  all  three,  in  that  high- 
est mode  of  possession  attained  by  devoted 
study. 

In  each  one  we  have  the  typical  Tuscan 
landscape,  filling  the  whole  picture  with  its 
tranquil  beauty.  The  "  glad  green  earth  " 
blossoms  with  dainty  flowers ;  the  fair  blue 
sky  above  is  reflected  in  the  placid  surface 
of  a  lake.  From  its  shores  rise  gently 
undulating  hills,  where  towers  show  the 
signs  of  happy  activity.  In  the  foreground 
of  this  peaceful  scene  sits  a  beautiful 
woman  with  two  charming  children  at  her 
knee.  They  belong  to  the  landscape  as 
naturally  as  the  trees  and  flowers ;  they 
partake  of  its  tranquil,  placid  happiness. 

Almost  identical  in  general  style  of 
composition,  the  three  pictures  show 
many  points  of  dissimilarity  when  we 
come    to   a  closer   study  of   the    figures. 


Raphael.  —  Madonna  in  the  Meadow. 


THE    PASTORAL    MADONNA.  97 

Considered  as  a  type  of  womanly  beauty, 
the  Belle  Jardiniere  is  perhaps  the  most 
commonplace  of  the  three  Virgins,  or,  to 
put  it  negatively,  the  least  attractive.  She 
is  distinctly  of  the  peasant  class,  gentle, 
amiable,  and  entirely  unassuming.  The 
Madonna  in  the  Meadow  is  a  maturer 
woman,  more  dignified,  more  beautiful. 
The  smooth  braids  of  her  hair  are  coiled 
about  the  head,  accentuating  its  lovely 
outline.  The  falling  mantle  reveals  the 
finely  modelled  shoulders.  The  Madonna 
of  the  Goldfinch  is  a  still  higher  type 
of  loveliness,  uniting  with  gentle  dignity 
a  certain  delicate,  high-bred  grace,  which 
Raphael  alone  could  impart.  Her  face 
is  charmingly  framed  in  the  soft  hair 
which  falls  modestly  about  it.  One  won- 
ders if  any  modern  coiffeur  could  in- 
vent so  many  styles  of  hair  dressing  as 
does  this  gifted  young  painter  of  the  six- 
teenth century. 


98  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

Turning  from  the  mother  to  the  chil- 
dren, we  find  the  same  general  types  re- 
peated in  the  three  pictures,  but  with 
some  difference  of  motif.  The  Christ- 
child  of  the  Belle  Jardiniere  is  looking  up 
fondly  to  his  mother.  In  the  Vienna  pic- 
ture he  is  eagerly  interested  in  the  cross 
which  the  little  St.  John  gives  him.  In 
the  Uffizi  picture  he  is  more  serious,  and 
strokes  the  goldfinch  with  an  air  of  ab- 
straction, meditating  on  the  holy  things 
his  mother  has  been  reading  to  him. 

The  arrangement  of  the  three  figures  is 
the  same  in  all  the  pictures,  and  is  so 
entirely  simple  that  we  forget  the  great- 
ness of  the  art.  The  Virgin,  dominating 
the  composition,  brings  into  unity  the  two 
smaller  figures.  This  unity  is  somewhat 
less  perfect  in  the  Belle  Jardiniere,  be- 
cause the  little  St.  John  is  almost  neg- 
lected in  the  intense  absorption  of  mother 
and  child  in  each  other. 


THE    PASTORAL    MADONNA.  99 

Once  again,  in  the  later  days  at  Rome, 
Raphael  recurred  to  the  pastoral  Madonna 
type  of  this  Florentine  period,  and  painted 
the  picture  known  as  the  Casa  Alba  Ma- 
donna. We  have  again  the  same  smiling 
landscape  and  the  same  charming  chil- 
dren, but  a  Virgin  of  an  altogether  new 
order.  A  turbaned  Roman  beauty  of 
superb,  Juno-like  physique,  she  does  not 
belong  to  the  idyllic  character  of  her  sur- 
roundings. It  is  as  if  some  brilliant  exotic 
had  been  transplanted  from  her  native 
haunts  to  quiet  fields,  where  hitherto  the 
modest  lily  had  bloomed  alone. 

As  Raphael's  first  inspiration  for  the 
pastoral  Madonna  came  from  the  influ- 
ence of  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  it  is  of  inter- 
est to  compare  his  work  with  that  of  the 
great  Lombard  himself.  Critics  tell  us 
that  the  Madonna  pictures  in  which  he 
came  nearest  to  his  model  are  the  Ma- 
donna   in    the    Meadow   and    the    Holy 


IOO  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

Family  of  the  Lamb.  (Madrid.)  These 
we  may  place  beside  the  Madonna  of  the 
Rocks,  which  is  the  only  entirely  authen- 
tic Da  Vinci  Madonna  which  we  have. 

It  is  only  the  skilled  connoisseur  who,  in 
travelling  from  Paris  to  Vienna,  and  from 
Vienna  to  Madrid,  can  hold  in  memory 
the  qualities  of  technique  which  link  to- 
gether the  three  pictures ;  but  for  gen- 
eral characteristics  of  composition,  the 
black  and  white  reproductions  may  suffice. 
Leonardo  availed  himself  of  his  intimate 
knowledge  of  Nature  to  choose  from  her 
storehouse  something  which  is  unique 
rather  than  typical.  The  rock  grotto 
doubtless  has  a  real  counterpart,  but  we 
must  go  far  to  find  it.  In  the  river, 
gleaming  beyond,  we  see  the  painter's 
characteristic  treatment  of  water,  which 
Raphael  was  glad  to  adopt.  The  tri- 
angular arrangement  of  the  figures,  the 
relation    of   the   Virgin    to   the   children. 


Leonardo  da  Vinci.  —  Madonna  of  the  Rocks. 


THE    PASTORAL    MADONNA.  IO3 

the  simple,  childish  beauty  of  the  latter, 
and  their  attitude  towards  each  other  — 
all  these  points  suggest  the  source  of 
Raphael's  similar  conceptions.  The  Vir- 
gin's hair  falls  over  her  shoulders  entirely 
unbound,  in  gentle,  waving  ripples. 

We  do  not  need  to  be  told,  though  the 
historian  has  taken  pains  to  record  it, 
that  a  feature  of  personal  beauty  by  which 
Leonardo  was  always  greatly  pleased  was 
"curled  and  waving  hair."  We  see  it  in 
the  first  touch  of  his  hand  when,  as  a  boy 
in  the  workshop  of  Verrochio,  he  painted 
the  wavy-haired  angel  in  his  Master's 
Baptism;  and  here,  again,  in  the  Virgin, 
we  find  it  the  crowning  element  of  her 
mysterious  loveliness.  We  try  in  vain  to 
penetrate  the  secret  of  her  smile,  —  it 
is  as  evasive  as  it  is  enchanting.  And 
herein  lies  the  distinguishing  difference 
between  Leonardo  and  Raphael.  The 
former  is  always  mysterious  and   subtle ; 


104  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

the  latter  is  always  frank  and  ingenuous. 
While  both  are  true  interpreters  of  na- 
ture, Leonardo  reveals  the  rare  and  inex- 
plicable, Raphael  chooses  the  typical  and 
familiar.  Both  are  possessed  of  a  strong 
sense  of  the  harmony  of  nature  with 
human  life.  The  smile  of  the  Virgin  of 
the  Rocks  is  a  part  of  the  mystery  of  her 
shadowy  environment ; '  the  serenity  of 
the  Madonna  in  the  Meadow  belongs  to 
the  atmosphere  of  the  open  fields. 

Among  others  who  were  affected  by  the 
influence  of  Leonardo  —  and  chief  of  the 
Lombards  —  was  Luini.  His  pastoral 
Madonna  has,  however,  little  in  common 
with  the  landscapes  of  his  master,  judg- 
ing from  the  lovely  example  in  the  Brera. 

1  That  the  Leonardesque  smile  requires  a  Leonardesque 
setting  is  seen,  I  think,  in  the  pictures  by  Da  Vinci's  imita- 
tors. The  Madonna  by  Sodoma,  recently  added  to  the 
Brera  Gallery  at  Milan,  is  an  example  in  point.  Here  the 
inevitable  smile  of  mystery  seems  meaningless  in  the  sunny, 
open  landscape. 


THE    PASTORAL    MADONNA.  105 

The  group  of  figures  is  strikingly  sug- 
gestive of  Da  Vinci,  but  the  quiet,  rural 
pasture  in  which  the  Virgin  sits  is  Luini's 
own.  In  the  distance  is  a  thick  clump  of 
trees,  finely  drawn  in  stem  and  branch. 
At  one  side  is  a  shepherd's  hut  with  a 
rlock  of  sheep  grazing  near.  The  child 
Jesus  reaches  from  his  mother's  lap  to  play 
with  the  lamb  which  the  little  St.  John 
has  brought,  a  motif  similar  to  Raphael's 
Madrid  picture,  and  perhaps  due,  in  both 
painters,  to  the  example  of  Leonardo. 

It  is  said  by  the  learned  that  during  the 
period  of  the  Renaissance  the  love  of  na- 
ture received  an  immense  impulse  from 
the  revival  of  the  Latin  poets,  and  that  this 
impulse  was  felt  most  in  the  large  cities. 
In  the  pictures  noted,  we  have  seen  its  ef- 
fect in  Florentine  and  Lombard  art;  that 
it  was  also  felt  in  isolated  places,  we 
may  see  in  some  of  Correggio's  work 
at  Parma,  at  about  the  same  time.     Two, 


106  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

at  least,  of  his  Madonna  pictures  are  as 
famous  for  their  beautiful  landscapes  as 
for  the  rare  grace  and  charm  of  their 
figures.  These  are  the  kneeling  Madon- 
na, of  the  Uffizi,  and  "  La  Zingarella," 
at  Naples.  Both  show  a  perfect  adapta- 
tion of  the  surroundings  to  the  spirit  of 
the  scene.  In  the  first  it  is  morning, 
and  the  gladness  of  Nature  reflects  the 
Mother's  rapturous  joy  in  her  awaken- 
ing babe.  A  brilliant  light  floods  the 
figures  in  the  foreground  and  melts 
across  the  green  slopes  into  the  hazy 
distance  of  the  sea-bound  horizon.  In 
the  second  it  is  twilight,  and  a  calm 
stillness  broods  over  all,  as  under  the 
feathery  palms  the  Mother  bends,  watch- 
ful, over  her  little  one's  slumbers.  Such 
were  the  revelations  of  Nature  to  the 
country-bred  painter  from  the  little  town 
of  Correggio. 

Turning   now  to  Venice   for   our   last 


THE    PASTORAL    MADONNA.  I07 

examples,  we  find  that  the  love  of  natu- 
ral scenery  was  remarkably  strong  in 
this  city  of  water  and  sky,  where  the 
very  absence  of  verdure  may  have  created 
a  homesick  longing  for  the  green  fields. 
It  was  Venetian  art  which  originated 
that  form  of  pastoral  Madonna  known 
as  the  Santa  Conversazione.  This  is 
usually  a  long,  narrow  picture,  showing 
a  group  of  sacred  personages,  against  a 
landscape  setting,  centering  about  the 
Madonna  and  child.  The  composition 
has  none  of  the  formality  of  the  en- 
throned Madonna.  An  underlying  unity 
of  purpose  and  action  binds  all  the  fig- 
ures together  in  natural  and  harmonious 
relations. 

The  acknowledged  leader  of  this  style 
of  composition  —  the  inventor  indeed  ac- 
cording to  many  —  was  Palma  Vecchio. 
It  is  curious  that  of  a  painter  whose 
works    are    so    widely    admired,    almost 


108  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

nothing  is  known.  Even  the  traditions 
which  once  lent  color  to  his  life  have 
been  shattered  by  the  ruthless  hand  of 
the  modern  investigator.  The  span  of 
his  life  extended  from  1480  to  1528. 
Thus  he  came  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century  made  glorious  by  Titian,  and 
contributed  not  a  little  in  his  own  way 
to  its  glory. 

It  is  supposed  that  he  studied  under 
Giovanni  Bellini,  and  at  one  time  was 
a  friend  and  colleague  of  Lorenzo  Lotto. 
A  child  of  the  mountains — for  he  was 
born  in  Serinalta  —  he  never  entirely  lost 
the  influence  of  his  early  surroundings. 

To  the  last  his  figures  are  grave,  vigor- 
ous, sometimes  almost  rude,  partaking  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  everlasting  hills. 
Perhaps  it  was  these  traits  which  made  the 
Santa  Conversazione  a  favorite  composi- 
tion with  him.  He  has  an  intense  love 
of  Nature  in  her  most  luxuriant  mood. 


THE    PASTORAL    MADONNA.  Ill 

For  a  collection  of  Palma's  pictures,  we 
should  choose  at  least  four  to  represent 
his  treatment  of  the  Santa  Conversazione : 
those  at  Naples,  Dresden,  Munich,  and 
Vienna.  The  Naples  picture  is  considered 
the  most  successful  of  Palma's  large  pic- 
tures of  this  kind,  but  it  is  not  easy  for 
the  less  critical  observer  to  choose  a  favor- 
ite among  the  four.  One  general  formula 
describes  them  all :  a  sunny  landscape 
with  hills  clad  in  their  greenest  garb ;  a 
tree  in  the  foreground,  beneath  which  sits 
the  Virgin,  a  comely,  country-bred  matron, 
who  seems  to  have  drawn  her  splendid 
vigor  from  the  clear,  bright  air.  On  her 
lap  she  supports  a  sprightly  little  boy,  who 
is  the  centre  of  attention. 

In  the  simpler  compositions  the  Ma- 
donna is  at  the  left,  and  at  the  right  kneel 
or  sit  two  saints.  One  is  a  handsome 
young  rustic,  unkempt  and  roughly  clad, 
sometimes  figuring  as  St.  John  the   Bap- 


112  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

tist,  and  sometimes  as  St.  Roch.  With 
him  is  contrasted  a  beautiful  young  female 
saint,  usually  St.  Catherine.  Where  the 
composition  includes  other  figures,  the 
Virgin  is  in  the  centre,  with  the  attendant 
personages  symmetrically  grouped  on 
either  side.  In  the  Vienna  picture  the 
two  additional  figures  at  the  left  are  the 
aged  St.  Celestin  and  a  fine  St.  Barbara. 

Of  all  schools  of  painting,  the  Venetian 
is  the  least  translatable  into  black  and 
white,  so  rich  in  colors  is  the  palette  which 
composed  it.  This  is  especially  true  of 
Palma,  and  to  understand  aright  his  Santa 
Conversazione,  we  must  read  into  it  the 
harmony  of  colors  which  it  expresses, 
the  chords  of  blue,  red,  brown,  and  green, 
the  shimmering  lights  and  brilliant  at- 
mosphere. 

The  subject  of  the  Santa  Conversazione 
should  not  be  left  without  a  brief  reference 
to  other  Venetians,  who  added  to  the  pop- 


Filippino  Lippi. —  Madonna  in  a  Rose  Garden. 


THE    PASTORAL    MADONNA.  I  I  5 

ularity  of  this  charming  style  of  picture. 
Berenson  mentions  seven  by  Palma's 
pupil,  Bonifazio  Veronese,  and  one  by  his 
friend,  Lorenzo  Lotto.  Cima,  Cariani, 
Paris  Bordone,  and  last,  but  not  least,  the 
great  Titian,1  lent  their  gifts  to  the  subject, 
so  that  we  have  abundant  evidence  of  the 
Venetian  love  of  natural  scenery. 

It  remains  to  consider  one  more  form 
of  the  pastoral  Madonna,  that  which 
represents  the  Virgin  and  child  in  "  a 
garden  inclosed, "  in  allusion  to  the  sym- 
bolism of  Solomon's  Song  (4:  12).  The 
subject  is  found  among  the  woodcuts  of 
Albert  Durer,  but  I  have  never  seen  it  in 
any  German  painting. 

In  Italian  art  there  are  two  famous 
pictures  of  this  class:  by  Francia,  in  the 
Munich  Gallery,  and  by  Filippino  Lippi 
(or  so  attributed),   in   the   Pitti,   at  Flor- 

1  See  particularly  Titian's  works  in  the  Louvre,  of  which 
the  Vierge  au  Lapin  is  an  especially  charming  pastoral. 


Il6  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

ence.  In  both  the  motif  is  the  same : 
in  the  foreground,  a  square  inclosure 
surrounded  by  a  rose-hedge,  with  a  hilly 
landscape  in  the  distance;  the  Virgin 
kneeling  before  her  child  in  the  centre. 
Filippino  Lippi's  is  one  of  those  pic- 
tures whose  beauty  attracts  crowds  of 
admirers  to  the  canvas.  Copyists  are 
kept  busy,  repeating  the  composition  for 
eager  purchasers,  and  it  has  made  its 
way  all  over  the  world.  The  circle  of 
graceful  angels  who,  with  the  boy  St. 
John,  join  the  mother  in  adoring  the 
Christ-child,  is  one  of  the  chief  attractions 
of  the  picture.  It  is  a  pretty  conceit  that 
one  of  these  angels  showers  rose  leaves 
upon  the  babe. 

The  pastoral  Madonna  is  the  sort  of 
picture  which  can  never  be  outgrown. 
The  charm  of  nature  is  as  perennial  as 
is  the  beauty  of  motherhood,  and  the  two 
are  always  in  harmony.     Here,  then,  is  a 


THE    PASTORAL    MADONNA.  1 17 

proper  subject  for  modern  Madonna  art, 
a  field  which  has  scarcely  been  opened  by 
the  artists  of  our  own  day.  Such  pas- 
toral Madonnas  as  have  been  painted 
within  recent  years  are  all  more  or  less 
artificial  in  conception.  Compared  with 
the  idyllic  charm  of  the  sixteenth  century 
pictures,  they  seem  like  pretty  scenes  in 
a  well-mounted  opera.  We  are  looking 
for  better  things. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    MADONNA    IN    A    HOME    ENVIRONMENT. 

SUBJECT  so  sacred  as  the  Ma- 
donna was  long  held  in  too  great 
reverence  to  permit  of  any  com- 
mon or  realistic  treatment  The  pastoral 
setting  brought  the  mother  and  her  babe 
into  somewhat  closer  and  more  human 
relations  than  had  before  been  deemed 
possible ;  but  art  was  slow  to  presume 
any  further  upon  this  familiarity.  The 
Madonna  as  a  domestic  subject,  repre- 
sented in  the  interior  of  her  home,  was 
hesitatingly  adopted,  and  has  been  so 
rarely  treated,  even  down  to  our  own 
times,  as  to  form  but  a  small  group  of 
pictures  in  the  great  body  of  art. 

The    Northern    painters    naturally   led 

118 


SCHONGAUER.  —  HOLV    FAMILY. 


IN    A    HOME    ENVIRONMENT.  121 

the  way.  Peculiarly  home-loving  in  their 
tastes,  their  ideal  woman  is  the  hausfrau, 
and  it  was  with  them  no  lowering  of  the 
Madonnas  dignity  to  represent  her  in 
this  capacity.  A  picture  in  the  style  of 
Quentin  Massys  hangs  in  the  Munich 
Gallery,  and  shows  a  Flemish  bedroom 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  At  the  left 
stands  the  bed,  and  on  the  right  burns 
the  fire,  with  a  kettle  hanging  over  it. 
The  Virgin  sits  alone  with  her  babe  at 
her  breast. 

More  frequently  a  domestic  scene  of 
this  sort  includes  other  figures  belonging 
to  the  Holy  Family.  A  typical  German 
example  is  the  picture  by  Schongauer  in 
the  Belvedere  Gallery  at  Vienna.  The 
Virgin  is  seated  in  homely  surroundings, 
intent  upon  a  bunch  of  grapes  which  she 
holds  in  her  hands,  and  which  she  has 
taken  from  a  basket  standing  on  the  floor 
beside  her.     Long,  waving  hair  falls  over 


122  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

her  shoulders  ;  a  snowy  kerchief  is  folded 
primly  in  the  neck  of  her  dress;  she 
is  the  impersonation  of  virgin  modesty. 
Her  baby  boy  stands  on  her  lap,  nestling 
against  his  mother;  his  eyes  fixed  on 
the  fruit,  his  eager  little  face  glowing 
with  pleasure.  Beyond  are  seen  the  cat- 
tle, which  Joseph  is  feeding.  He  pauses 
at  the  door,  a  bundle  of  hay  in  his  arms, 
to  look  in  with  fond  pride  at  his  young 
wife  and  her  child. 

Schongauer's  work  belongs  to  the  latter 
part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  there 
was  nothing  similar  to  it  in  Italy  at  the 
same  period.  It  is  true  that  Madonnas  in 
domestic  settings  have  been  attributed  to 
contemporaneous  Italians,  but  they  were 
probably  by  some  Flemish  hand. 

Giulio  Romano,  a  pupil  of  Raphael, 
was  perhaps  the  first  of  the  Italians  to 
give  any  domestic  touch  to  the  subject 
of    the    Madonna   and    child.     His    Ma- 


Raphael.  —  Madonna  dell'  Impannata. 


IN    A    HOME    ENVIRONMENT.  1 25 

donna  della  Catina  of  the  Dresden  Gal- 
lery is  well  known.  It  is  so  called  from 
the  basin  in  which  the  Christ-child  stands 
while  the  little  St.  John  pours  in  water 
from  a  pitcher  for  the  bath.  Another 
picture  by  the  same  artist  shows  the 
Madonna  seated  with  her  child  in  the 
interior  of  a  bedchamber.  This  was  one 
of  the  "discoveries"  of  the  late  Senator 
Giovanni  Morelli,  the  critic,  and  is  in  a 
private  collection  in  Dresden. 

To  Giulio  Romano  also,  according  to 
recent  criticism,  is  due  the  domestic  Ma- 
donna known  as  the  "  Impannata,"  and 
usually  attributed  to  Raphael.  It  is  prob- 
able that  both  artists  had  a  hand  in  it, 
the  master  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
composition,  the  pupil  in  its  execution. 
A  bed  at  one  side  is  concealed  by  a  green 
curtain.  In  the  rear  is  the  cloth-covered 
window  which  gives  the  picture  its  name. 
Elizabeth     and     Mary    Magdalene    have 


126  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

brought  home  the  child,  who  springs  to 
his  mother's  arms,  smiling  back  brightly 
at  his  friends.  One  other  Madonna  from 
Raphael's  brush  (the  Orleans)  has  an 
interior  setting,  but  the  domestic  environ- 
ment here  is  undoubtedly  the  work  of 
some  Flemish  painter  of  later  date. 

By  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Holy 
Family  in  a  home  environment  can  be 
found  somewhat  more  often  in  various 
localities.  By  the  French  painter  Mi- 
gnard  there  is  a  well-known  picture  in 
the  Louvre  called  La  Vierge  a  la  Grappe. 
By  F.  Barocci  of  Urbino  there  is  an 
example  in  the  National  Gallery  known 
as  the  Madonna  del  Gatto,  in  which  the 
child  holds  a  bird  out  of  the  reach  of  a 
cat.  A  similar  motif,  certainly  not  a 
pleasant  one,  is  seen  in  Murillo's  Holy 
Family  of  the  Bird,  in  Madrid.  By  Sa- 
limbeni,  in  the  Pitti,  is  a  Holy  Family 
in    an    interior,    showing   the    boy    Jesus 


IN    A    HOME    ENVIRONMENT.  12/ 

and  his  cousin  St.  John  playing  with 
puppies. 

Rembrandt's  domestic  Madonna  pic- 
tures, equally  homely  as  to  environment, 
are  by  no  means  scenes  of  hilarity,  but 
rather  of  frugal  contentment.  Two 
similar  works  bear  the  title  of  Le 
Menage  du  Menuisier  —  the  Carpenter's 
Home.  In  both,  the  scene  is  the  interior 
of  a  common  room  devoted  to  work 
and  household  purposes.  Joseph  is  seen 
in  the  rear  at  his  bench,  while  the  cen- 
tral   figures    are    the    mother   and    child. 

In  the  Louvre  picture,  the  Virgin's 
mother  is  present,  caressing  her  grand- 
child, who  is  held  at  his  mother's  breast. 
The  composition  at  St.  Petersburg  (Her- 
mitage Gallery)  is  simpler,  and  shows 
the  Virgin  contemplating  her  babe  as 
he  lies  asleep  in  the  cradle.  Another 
well-known  picture  by  Rembrandt  is  in 
the  Munich  Gallery,  where  again  we  have 


128  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

signs  of  the  carpenter's  toil,  but  where 
the  laborer  has  stopped  for  a  moment 
to  peep  at  the  babe,  who  has  gone  off  to 
dreamland  at  his  mother's  breast  and  now 
sleeps  sweetly  in  her  lap.  Let  those  who 
think  such  pictures  too  homely  for  a 
sacred  theme  compare  them  with  the 
simplicity  of  the  Gospels. 


Part   II 

MADONNAS   CLASSED   ACCORDING   TO 

THEIR  SIGNIFICANCE   AS   TYPES 

OF  MOTHERHOOD. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE    MADONNA    OF    LOVE. 
(THE   MATER   AMABILIS.) 

[NDOUBTEDLY  the  most  popu- 
lar of  all  Madonna  subjects  —  cer- 
tainly the  most  easily  understood 
—  is  the  Mater  Amabilis.  The  mother's 
mood  may  be  read  at  a  glance :  she  is 
showing  in  one  of  a  thousand  tender  ways 
her  motherly  affection  for  her  child.  She 
clasps  him  in  her  arms,  holding  him  to 
her  breast,  pressing  her  face  to  his,  kissing 
him,  caressing  him,  or  playing  with  him. 
Love  is  written  in  every  line  of  her  face ; 
love  is  the  key-note  of  the  picture. 

The  style  of  composition  best  adapted 
to  such  a  theme  is  manifestly  the  simplest. 
*3* 


132  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

The  more  formal  types  of  the  enthroned 
and  glorified  Madonnas  are  the  least 
suitable  for  the  display  of  maternal  affec- 
tion, while  the  portrait  Madonna,  and  the 
Madonna  in  landscape  or  domestic  scenes, 
are  readily  conceived  as  the  Mater  Ama- 
bilis.  Nevertheless,  these  distinctions  have 
not  by  any  means  been  rigidly  regarded 
in  art.  This  is  manifest  in  some  of  the 
illustrations  in  Part  I.,  as  the  Enthroned 
Madonna,  by  Quentin  Massys,  where  the 
mother  kisses  her  child,  and  Angelico's 
Madonna  in  Glory,  where  she  holds  him 
to  her  cheek. 

Gathering  our  examples  from  so  many 
methods  of  composition,  we  are  in  the 
midst  of  a  multitude  of  pictures  which  no 
man  can  number,  and  which  set  forth 
every  conceivable  phase  of  motherliness. 

Let  us  make  Raphael  our  starting-point. 
From  the  same  master  whose  influence 
led  him  to  the  study  of  external  nature,  he 


THE    MADONNA    OF    LOVE.  1 33 

learned  also  the  study  of  human  nature. 
To  the  interpretation  of  mother-love  he 
brought  all  the  fresh  ardor  of  youth,  and 
a  sunny  temperament  which  saw  only  joy 
in  the  face  of  Nature.  One  after  another 
of  the  series  of  his  Florentine  pictures 
gives  us  a  new  glimpse  of  the  loving  rela- 
tion between  mother  and  child. 

The  Belle  Jardiniere  gazes  into  her 
boy's  face  in  fond  absorption.  The  Tempi 
Madonna  holds  him  to  her  heart,  pressing 
her  lips  to  his  soft  cheek.  In  the  Orleans 
and  Colonna  pictures  she  smiles  indul- 
gently into  his  eyes  as  he  lies  across  her 
lap,  plucking  at  the  bosom  of  her  dress. 
Other  pictures  show  the  two  eagerly  read- 
ing together  from  the  Book  of  Wisdom 
(The  Conestabile  and  Ansidei  Madonnas). 

The  painter's  later  work  evinces  a 
growing  maturity  of  thought.  In  the 
Holy  Family  of  Francis  I.,  how  strong 
and   tender   is    the    mother's    attitude,  as 


134  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

she  stoops  to  lift  her  child  from  his  cradle ; 
in  the  Chair  Madonna,  how  protecting  is 
the  capacious  embrace  with  which  she 
gathers  him  to  herself  in  brooding  love. 
No  technical  artistic  education  is  neces- 
sary for  the  appreciation  of  such  pictures. 
All  who  have  known  a  mother's  love  look 
and  understand,  and  look  again  and  are 
satisfied. 

Correggio  touches  the  heart  in  much 
the  same  way;  he,  too,  saw  the  world 
through  rose-colored  glasses.  His  inter- 
pretation of  life  is  full  of  buoyant  en- 
joyment. Beside  the  tranquil  joy  of 
Raphael's  ideals,  his  figures  express  a 
tumultuous  gladness,  an  overflowing  gay- 
ety.  This  is  the  more  curious  because 
of  the  singular  melancholy  which  is  at- 
tributed to  him.  The  outer  circumstances 
of  his  life  moved  in  a  quiet  groove  which 
was  almost  humdrum.  He  passed  his 
days  in  comparative   obscurity  at  Parma, 


THE    MADONNA    OF    LOVE.  1 35 

far  from  the  great  art  influences  of  his 
time.  But  isolation  seemed  the  better 
to  develop  his  rare  individuality.  He 
was  the  architect  of  his  own  fortunes, 
and  wrought  out  independently  a  style 
peculiar  to  himself.  His  most  famous 
Madonna  pictures  are  large  compositions, 
crowded  with  figures  of  extravagant  atti- 
tudes and  expression.  The  fame  of  these 
more  pretentious  works  rests  not  so  much 
upon  their  inner  significance  as  upon 
their  splendid  technique.  They  are  un- 
surpassed for  masterly  handling  of  color, 
and  for  triumphs  of  chiaroscuro. 

There  are  better  qualities  of  sentiment 
in  the  smaller  pictures,  where  the  mother 
is  alone  with  her  child.  It  is  here  that 
we  find  something  worthy  to  compare 
with  Raphael.  There  are  several  of  these, 
produced  in  rapid  succession  during  the 
period  when  the  artist  was  engaged  upon 
the  frescoes   of  S.  Giovanni  (Parma),  and 


136  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

soon  after  marriage  had  opened  his  heart 
to  sweet,  domestic  influences. 

The  first  was  the  UfHzi  picture,  so 
widely  known  and  loved.  The  mother 
has  gathered  up  her  mantle  so  that  it 
covers  her  head  and  drops  at  one  side 
on  a  step,  forming  a  soft,  blue  cushion 
for  the  babe.  Here  the  little  darling  lies, 
looking  up  into  his  mother's  face.  Kneel- 
ing on  the  step  below,  she  bends  over 
him,  with  her  hands  playfully  outstretched, 
in  a  transport  of  maternal  affection. 

Following  this  came  the  picture  now  in 
the  National  Gallery,  called  the  Madonna 
della  Cesta,  from  the  basket  that  lies  on 
the  ground.  It  is  a  domestic  scene  in 
the  outer  air:  the  mother  is  dressing 
her  babe,  and  smilingly  arrests  his  hand, 
which,  on  a  sudden  impulse,  he  has 
stretched  towards  some  coveted  object. 
The  same  face  is  almost  exactly  repeated 
in  the  Madonna  of  the  Hermitage  Gallery 


THE    MADONNA    OF    LOVE.  1 37 

(St.  Petersburg),  who  offers  her  breast  to 
her  boy,  at  that  moment  turning  about 
to  receive  some  fruit  presented  by  a  child 
angel.  There  are  two  duplicates  of  this 
picture  in  other  galleries. 

The  Zingarella  (the  Gypsy)  is  «o  called 
from  the  gypsy  turban  worn  by  the 
Madonna.  The  mother,  supposed  to  be 
painted  from  the  artist's  wife,  sits  with 
the  child  asleep  on  her  lap.  With  moth- 
erly tenderness  she  bends  so  closely  over 
him  that  her  forehead  touches  his  little 
head.  It  is  unfortunate  that  this  beau- 
tiful work  is  not  better  known.  It  is  in 
the  Naples  Gallery. 

A  comparison  of  these  pictures  dis- 
closes a  remarkable  variety  in  action  and 
grouping.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Ma- 
donnas are  quite  similar  in  general  type. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Zingarella,  who 
is  the  most  motherly,  they  are  all  in  a 
playful  mood.     The  same  playfulness,  but 


138  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

of  a  more  sweet  and  motherly  kind,  lights 
the  face  of  the  Madonna  della  Scala.  The 
composition  is  somewhat  in  the  portrait 
style,  showing  the  mother  in  half  length, 
seated  under  a  sort  of  canopy.  The  babe 
clings  closely  to  her  neck,  turning  about 
at  the  spectator  with  a  glance  half  shy 
and  half  mischievous.  His  coyness  awak- 
ens a  smile  of  tender  amusement  in  the 
gentle,  young  face  above  him. 

The  picture  has  an  interesting  history. 
It  was  originally  painted  in  fresco  over 
the  eastern  gate  of  Parma,  where  Vasari 
saw  and  admired  it.  In  after  years,  the 
wall  which  it  decorated  was  incorporated 
into  a  small  new  church,  of  which  it 
formed  the  rear  wall.  To  accommodate 
the  high  level  of  the  Madonna,  the  build- 
ing was  somewhat  elevated,  and,  being 
entered  by  a  flight  of  steps,  was  known  as 
S.  Maria  della  Scala  (of  the  staircase). 
The  name  attached  itself  to   the  picture 


CORREGGIO. —  Madonna  della  Scala. 


THE    MADONNA    OF    LOVE.  141 

even  after  the  church  was  destroyed  (in 
181 2),  and  the  fresco  removed  to  the 
town  gallery.  The  marks  of  defacement 
which  it  bears  are  due  to  the  votive  offer- 
ings which  were  formerly  fastened  upon 
it,  —  among  them,  a  silver  crown  worn  by 
the  Madonna  as  late  as  the  eighteenth 
century.  Though  such  scars  injure  its 
artistic  beauty,  they  add  not  a  little  to  the 
romantic  interest  which  invests  it. 

Beside  such  names  as  Raphael  and 
Correggio,  history  furnishes  but  one  other 
worthy  of  comparison  for  the  portrayal  of 
the  Mater  Amabilis  —  it  is  Titian.  His 
Madonna  is  by  no  means  uniformly  moth- 
erly. There  are  times  when  we  look  in 
vain  for  any  softening  of  her  aristocratic 
features ;  when  her  stately  dignity  seems 
quite  incompatible  with  demonstrative- 
ness."     But   when    love    melts    her   heart 

1  See  the  Madonna  of  the  Cherries  in  the  Belvedere  at 
Vienna,  and  the  Madonna  and  Saints  in  the  Dresden  Gallery. 


142  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

how  gracious  is  her  unbending,  how  win- 
ning her  smile!  Once  she  goes  so  far  as 
to  play  in  the  fields  with  her  little  boy, 
quieting  a  rabbit  with  one  hand  for  him 
to  admire.  (La  Vierge  au  Lapin,  Louvre.) 
In  other  pictures  she  holds  him  lying 
across  her  lap,  smiling  thoughtfully  upon 
him.  Such  an  one  is  the  Madonna  with 
Sts.  Ulfo  and  Brigida,  in  the  Madrid  Gal- 
lery. The  child  is  taking  the  flowers  St. 
Brigida  offers  him,  and  his  mother  looks 
down  with  the  pleased  expression  of  fond 
pride.  Again,  when  her  babe  holds  his 
two  little  hands  full  of  the  roses  his  cousin 
St.  John  has  brought  him,  she  smiles 
gently  at  the  eagerness  of  the  two  chil- 
dren.    (Uffizi  Gallery.) 

Another  similar  composition  reveals  a 
still  sweeter  intimacy  between  mother  and 
son.  The  babe  stretches  out  his  hand 
coaxingly  towards  his  mother's  breast,  but 
she  draws  her  veil  about  her,  gently  deny- 


Titian.  — Madonna   and   Saints.     (Detail.) 


THE    MADONNA    OF    LOVE.  145 

ing  his  appeal.  A  more  beautiful  mother, 
or  a  more  bewitching  babe,  it  were  hard 
to  find.  Three  fine  half-length  figures  of 
saints  complete  this  composition,  each  of 
great  interest  and  individuality,  but  not 
necessary  to  the  unity  of  action  —  the 
Madonna  alone  making  a  complete  pic- 
ture. There  are  two  copies  of  this  work, 
one  in  the  Belvedere  at  Vienna,  and  one 
in  the  Louvre  at  Paris. 

The  motif "of  this  picture  is  not  unique 
in  art,  as  will  have  been  remarked  in 
passing.  The  first  duty  of  maternity,  and 
one  of  its  purest  joys,  is  to  sustain  the  new- 
born life  at  the  mother's  breast.  A  coarse 
interpretation  of  the  subject  desecrates  a 
holy  shrine,  while  a  delicate  rendering, 
such  as  Raphael's  or  Titian's,  invests  it 
with  a  new  beauty.  Other  pictures  of 
this  class  should  be  mentioned  in  the 
same  connection.  There  is  one  in  the 
Hermitage  Gallery  at  St.  Petersburg,  at- 


146  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

tributed  by  late  critics  to  the  little -known 
painter,  Bernardino  de'Conti.  The  Ma- 
donna's face,  her  hair  drawn  smoothly 
over  her  temples,  has  a  beautiful  matron- 
liness.  Still  another  is  the  Madonna  of 
the  Green  Cushion,  by  Solario,  in  the 
Louvre.  Here  the  babe  lies  on  a  cushion 
before  his  mother,  who  bends  over  him 
ecstatically,  her  fair  young  face  aglow 
with  maternal  love  as  she  sees  his  con- 
tentment. 

We  have  noticed  that  in  one  of  Cor- 
regio's  pictures  the  babe  lies  asleep  on 
his  mother's  lap.  It  is  interesting  to 
trace  this  pretty  motif  through  other 
works  of  art.  No  phase  of  motherhood 
is  more  touching  than  the  watchful  care 
which  guards  the  child  while  he  sleeps; 
nor  is  infancy  ever  more  appealing  than 
in  peaceful  and  innocent  slumber.  Mrs. 
Browning  understood  this  well,  when 
she    wrote     her    beautiful    poem     inter- 


THE    MADONNA    OF    LOVE.  147 

preting  the  thoughts  of  "  the  Virgin 
Mary  to  the  Child  Jesus."  Hopes  and 
fears,  joy  and  pity,  are  alternately  stirred 
in  the  heart  of  the  watcher,  as  she  bends 
over  the  tiny  face,  scanning  every  change 
that  flits  across  it.  Each  verse  suggests 
a  subject  for  a  picture. 

We  should  naturally  expect  that  Ra- 
phael would  not  overlook  so  beautiful  a 
theme  as  the  mother  watching  her  sleep- 
ing child.  Nor  are  we  disappointed. 
The  Madonna  of  the  Diadem,  in  the 
Louvre,  belongs  to  this  class  of  pictures. 
Like  the  pastoral  Madonnas  of  the  Flor- 
entine period,  it  includes  the  figure  of 
the  little  St.  John,  to  whom,  in  this  in- 
stance, the  proud  mother  is  showing  her 
babe,  daintily  lifting  the  veil  which  cov- 
ers his  face. 

The  seventeenth  century  produced 
many  pictures  of  this  class ;  among  them, 
a  beautiful  work  by  Guido  Reni,  in  Rome, 


I48  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

deserves  mention,  being  executed  with 
greater  care  than  was  usual  with  him. 
Sassoferrato  and  Carlo  Dolce  frequently 
painted  the  subject.  Their  Madonnas 
often  seem  affected,  not  to  say  senti- 
mental, after  the  simpler  and  nobler 
types  of  the  earlier  period.  But  nowhere 
is  their  peculiar  sweetness  more  appro- 
priate than  beside  a  sleeping  babe.  The 
Corsini  picture  by  Carlo  Dolce  is  an 
exquisite  nursery  scene.  Its  popularity 
depends  more,  perhaps,  upon  the  babe 
than  the  mother.  Like  Lady  Isobel's 
child  in  another  poem  of  motherhood 
by  Mrs.  Browning,  he  sleeps  — 

"  Fast,  warm,  as  if  its  mother's  smile, 
Laden  with  love's  dewy  weight, 
And  red  as  rose  of  Harpocrate, 
Dropt  upon  its  eyelids,  pressed 
Lashes  to  cheek  in  a  sealed  rest." 

In   Northern  Madonna   art,  the  Mater 
Amabilis     is     the     preeminent     subject. 


THE    MADONNA    OF    LOVE.  149 

This  fact  is  due  partly  to  the  German 
theological  tendency  to  subordinate  the 
mother  to  her  divine  Son,  but  more 
especially  to  the  characteristic  domes- 
ticity of  Teutonic  peoples.  From  Van 
Eyck  and  Schongaucr,  through  Diirer 
and  Holbein,  down  to  Rembrandt  and 
Rubens,  we  trace  this  strongly  marked 
predilection  in  every  style  of  composition, 
regardless  of  proprieties.  Van  Eyck  does 
not  hesitate  to  occupy  his  richly  dressed 
enthroned  Madonna  at  Frankfort  with 
giving  her  breast  to  her  babe,  and  Diirer 
portrays  the  same  maternal  duties  in  the 
Virgin  on  the  Crescent  Moon.  Holbein's 
Meyer  Madonna,  splendid  with  her  jew- 
elled crown,  is  not  less  motherly  than 
Schongauer's  young  Virgin  sitting  in  a 
rude  stable. 

Rembrandt  in  humble  Dutch  interiors, 
Rubens  in  numerous  Holy  Families  mod- 
elled   upon   the   Flemish  life   about  him 


150  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

always  conceive  of  the  Virgin  Mother  as 
delighting  in  her  maternal  cares.  As  has 
been  said  of  Diirer's  Madonna,  —  and 
the  description  applies  equally  well  to 
many  others  in  the  North, —  "  She  suckles 
her  son  with  a  calm  feeling  of  happiness ; 
she  gazes  upon  him  with  admiration  as 
he  lies  upon  her  lap ;  she  caresses  him 
and  presses  him  to  her  bosom  without 
a  thought  whether  it  is  becoming  to  her, 
or  whether  she  is  being  admired." 

This  entire  absence  of  posing  on  the 
part  of  the  German  Virgin  is  one  of 
the  most  admirable  elements  in  this  art. 
This  characteristic  is  perfectly  illustrated 
in  Diirer's  portrait  Madonna  of  the  Bel- 
vedere Gallery,  at  Vienna.  This  is  an 
excellent  specimen  of  the  master,  who, 
alone  of  the  Germans,  is  considered  the 
peer  of  his  great  Italian  contemporaries. 
Frankly  admired  both  by  Titian  and 
Raphael,  he  has  in   common  with   them 


Durer.  —  Madonna  and  Child. 


THE    MADONNA    OF    LOVE.  1 53 

the  supreme  gift  of  seeing  and  repro- 
ducing natural  human  affections.  His 
work,  however,  is  as  thoroughly  German 
as  theirs  is  Italian.  The  Madonna  of 
this  picture  has  the  round,  maidenly  face 
of  the  typical  German  ideal.  A  trans- 
parent veil  droops  over  the  flowing  hair, 
covered  by  a  blue  drapery  above.  The 
mother  holds  her  child  high  in  her 
arms,  bending  her  face  over  him.  The 
babe  is  a  beautiful  little  fellow,  full  of 
vivacity.  He  holds  up  a  pear  gleefully,  to 
meet  his  mother's  smile.  The  picture  is 
painted  with  great  delicacy  of  finish. 

The  Mater  Amabilis  is  the  subject 
par  excellence  of  modern  Madonna  art. 
Carrying  on  its  surface  so  much  beauty 
and  significance,  it  is  naturally  attractive 
to  all  figure  painters.  While  other  Ma- 
donna subjects  are  too  often  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  either  the  artist  or  his 
patron,  this  falls  within  the  range  of  both. 


154  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

The  shop  windows  are  full  of  pretty  pic 
tures  of  this  kind,  in  all  styles  of  treat- 
ment. 

There  are  the  portrait  Madonnas  by 
Gabriel  Max,  already  mentioned,  and  pas- 
toral Madonnas  by  Bouguereau,  by  Carl 
Miiller,  by  N.  Barabino,  and  by  Dagnan- 
Bouveret.  Others  carry  the  subject  into 
the  more  formal  compositions  of  the  en- 
throned and  enskied  Madonnas,  being, 
as  we  have  seen,  not  without  illustrious 
predecessors  among  the  old  masters.  Of 
these  we  have  Guay's  Mater  Amabilis, 
where  the  mother  leans  from  her  throne 
to  support  her  child,  playing  on  the  step 
below  with  his  cousin,  St.  John ;  and 
Mary  L.  Macomber's  picture,  where  the 
enthroned  Madonna  folds  her  babe  in 
her  protecting  arms,  as  if  to  shield  him 
from  impending  evil. 

By  Bodenhausen  we  have  the  extremely 
popular  Mater  Amabilis  in  Gloria,  where 


BODENHAUSEN. —  MADONNA    AND    CHILD. 


THE    MADONNA    OF    LOVE.  1 57 

a  girlish  young  mother,  her  long  hair 
streaming  about  her,  stands  in  upper  air, 
poised  above  the  great  ball  of  the  earth, 
holding  her  sweet  babe  to  her  heart. 

Pictures  like  these  constantly  reiterate 
the  story  of  a  mother's  love  —  an  old,  old 
story,  which  begins  again  with  every  new 
birth. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE    MADONNA    IN    ADORATION. 
(the  madre  pia.) 

HE  first  tender  joys  of  a  mother's 
love  are  strangely  mingled  with 
awe.  Her  babe  is  a  precious 
gift  of  God, which  she  receives  into  trem- 
bling hands.  A  new  sense  of  responsi- 
bility presses  upon  her  with  almost 
overwhelming  force.  Hers  is  the  highest 
honor  given  unto  woman ;  she  accepts  it 
with  solemn  joy,  deeming  herself  all  too 
unworthy. 

This  spirit  of  humility  has  been  ideal- 
ized in  art,  in  the  form  of  Madonna  known 
as  the  Madre  Pia.     It  represents  the  Vir- 
gin   Mary   adoring  her  son.     Sometimes 
158 


THE    MADONNA    IN    ADORATION.         1 59 

she  kneels  before  him,  sometimes  she  sits 
with  clasped  hands,  holding  him  in  her 
lap.  Whatever  the  variation  in  attitude, 
the  thought  is  the  same :  it  is  an  expres- 
sion of  that  higher,  finer  aspect  of  mother- 
hood which  regards  infancy  as  an  object 
not  only  of  love,  but  of  reverent  humility. 
It  is  a  recognition  of  the  great  mystery 
of  life  which  invests  even  the  helpless 
babe  with  a  dignity  commanding  respect. 
A  picture  with  so  serious  an  intention 
can  never  be  widely  understood.  The 
meaning  is  too  subtile  for  the  casual 
observer.  An  outgrowth  of  mediaeval 
pietism,  it  was  superseded  by  more  popu- 
lar subjects,  and  has  never  since  been 
revived.  The  subject  had  its  origin  as 
an  idealized  nativity,  set  in  pastoral  sur- 
roundings which  suggest  the  Bethlehem 
manger.  Theologically  it  represented  the 
Virgin  as  the  first  worshipper  of  her 
divine  Son.     But  though  the  sacred  mys- 


l6o  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

tery  of  Mary's  experience  sets  her  forever 
apart  as  "blessed  among  women,"  she  is 
the  type  of  true  motherhood  in  all  genera- 
tions. 

The  Madonna  in  Adoration  is,  properly 
speaking,  a  fifteenth  century  subject.  It 
belongs  primarily  to  that  most  mystic  of 
all  schools  of  art,  the  Umbrian,  centering 
in  the  town  of  Perugia.  Nowhere  else 
was  painting  so  distinctly  an  adjunct  of  re- 
ligious services,  chiefly  designed  to  aid  the 
worshipper  in  prayer  and  contemplation. 

As  an  exponent  of  the  typical  qualities 
of  the  Perugian  school  stands  the  artist 
who  is  known  by  its  name,  Perugino.  His 
favorite  subject  is  the  Madre  Pia,  and  his 
best  picture  of  the  kind  is  the  Madonna 
of  the  National  Gallery.  Having  once 
seen  her  here,  the  traveller  recognizes  her 
again  and  again  in  other  galleries,  in  the 
many  replicas  of  this  charming  composi- 
tion.    The  Madonna  kneels  in  the  fore- 


THE    MADONNA    IN    ADORATION.  l6l 

ground,  adoring  with  folded  hands  the 
child,  who  is  supported  in  a  sitting  pos- 
ture on  the  ground,  by  a  guardian  angel. 
The  Virgin's  face  is  full  of  fervent  and 
exalted  emotion. 

Perugino  had  no  direct  imitator  of  his 
Madre  Pia,  but  his  Bolognese  admirer 
Francia  treated  the  subject  in  a  way  that 
readily  suggests  the  source  of  his  inspira- 
tion. His  Madonna  of  the  Rose  Garden 
in  Munich  instantly  recalls  Perugino.  The 
artist  has,  however,  chosen  a  novel  motif 
in  representing  the  moment  when  the 
Virgin  is  just  sinking  on  her  knees,  as  if 
overcome  by  emotion. 

Between  the  Umbrian  school  and  the 
Florentine,  a  reciprocal  influence  was  ex- 
erted. If  the  latter  taught  the  former 
many  secrets  of  composition  and  techni- 
cal execution,  the  Umbrians  in  turn  im- 
parted something  of  their  mysticism  to 
their  more  matter-of-fact  neighbors.  While 


1 62  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

the  Umbrian  school  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury was  occupied  with  the  Madre  Pia, 
Florence  also  was  devoted  to  the  same 
subject.  Sculpture  led  the  race,  and  in 
the  front  ranks  was  Luca  della  Robbia, 
founder  of  the  school  which  bears  his 
family  name. 

Beginning  as  a  worker  in  marble,  his 
inventive  genius  presently  wrought  out 
a  style  of  sculpture  peculiarly  his  own. 
This  was  the  enamelled  terra-cotta  bas- 
relief  showing  pure  white  figures  against 
a  background  of  pale  blue.  They  were 
made  chiefly  in  circular  medallions,  lu- 
nettes, and  tabernacles,  and  were  scattered 
throughout  the  churches  and  homes  of 
Tuscany. 

Associated  with  Luca  in  his  work  was 
his  nephew  Andrea,  who,  in  turn,  had 
three  sculptor  sons,  Giovanni,  Girolamo, 
and  Luca  II.  So  great  was  the  demand 
for    their  ware    that   the    Delia    Robbia 


THE  MADONNA  IN  ADORATION.    1 63 

studios  became  a  veritable  manufactory 
from  which  hundreds  of  pieces  went 
forth.  Of  these,  a  goodly  number  rep- 
resent the  Madonna  in  Adoration.  While 
it  is  difficult  to  trace  every  one  of  these 
with  absolute  correctness  to  its  individ- 
ual author,  the  majority  seem  to  be  by 
Andrea,  who,  as  it  would  appear,  had  a 
special  fondness  for  the  subject.  It  must 
be  acknowledged  that  the  nephew  is  in- 
ferior to  his  uncle  in  his  ideal  of  the 
Virgin,  less  original  than  Luca  in  his 
conceptions,  and  less  noble  in  his  results. 
His  work,  notwithstanding,  has  many 
charming  qualities,  which  are  specially 
appropriate  to  the  character  of  the  par- 
ticular subject  under  consideration.  There 
is,  indeed,  a  peculiar  value  in  low  relief, 
for  purposes  of  idealization.  It  has  an 
effect  of  spiritualizing  the  material,  and 
giving  the  figures  an  ethereal  appear- 
ance.      Andrea    profited    by    this    advan- 


164  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

tage,  and,  in  addition,  showed  great 
delicacy  of  judgment  in  subduing  curves 
and  retaining  simplicity  in  his  lines. 

We  may  see  all  this  in  the  popular 
tabernacle  which  he  designed,  and  of 
which  there  are  at  least  five,  and  prob- 
ably more,  copies.  The  Madonna  kneels 
prayerfully  before  her  babe,  who  lies  on 
the  ground  by  some  lily  stalks.  In  the 
sky  above  are  two  cherubim  and  hands 
holding  a  crown.  There  is  a  girlish  grace 
in  the  kneeling  figure,  and  a  rare  sweet- 
ness in  the  face,  entirely  free  from  senti- 
mentality. A  severe  simplicity  of  drapery, 
and  the  absence  of  all  unnecessary  ac- 
cessories, are  points  of  excellence  worth 
noting.  The  composition  was  sometimes 
varied  by  the  introduction  of  different 
figures  in  the  sky,  other  cherubim,  or  the 
head  of  the  Almighty,  with  the  Dove. 
Only  second  in  popularity  to  this  was 
Andrea's   circular   medallion  of   the    Na- 


Andrea  della    Robbia.  —  Madonna  in   Adoration. 


THE    MADONNA    IN    ADORATION.         1 67 

tivity,  with  the  Virgin  and  St.  John  in 
adoration.  There  are  two  copies  of 
this  in  the  Florentine  Academy,  one  in 
the  Louvre,  and  one  in  Berlin.  The  ef- 
fect of  crowding  so  many  figures  into 
a  small  compass  is  not  so  pleasing  as 
the  classical  simplicity  of  the  former 
composition. 

Contemporary  with  the  Delia  Robbias 
was  another  Florentine  family  of  artists 
equally  numerous.  Of  the  five  Rossel- 
lini,  Antonio  is  of  greatest  interest  to 
us,  as  a  sculptor  who  had  some  qualities 
in  common  with  the  famous  porcelain 
workers.  Like  them,  he  had  a  special 
gift  for  the  Madonna  in  Adoration.  We 
can  see  this  subject  in  his  best  style  of 
treatment,  in  the  beautiful  Nativity  in 
San  Miniato,  "  which  may  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  charming  productions 
of  the  best  period  of  Tuscan  art." '     The 

1  C.  C.  Perkins,  in  Tuscan  Sculptor*. 


1 68  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

tourist  will  consider  it  a  rich  reward  for 
his  climb  to  the  quaint  old  church  on 
the  ramparts  overhanging  the  Arno.  If 
perchance  his  wanderings  lead  him,  on 
another  occasion,  to  the  hill  rising  on 
the  opposite  side,  he  will  find,  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Fiesole,  a  fitting  compan- 
ion in  the  altar-piece  by  Mino  da  Fiesole. 
This  is  a  decidedly  unique  rendering  of 
the  Madre  Pia.  The  Virgin  kneels  in  a 
niche,  facing  the  spectator,  adoring  the 
Christ-child,  who  sits  on  the  steps  below 
her,  turning  to  the  little  Baptist,  who 
kneels  at  one  side  on  a  still  lower  step. 

Passing  from  the  sculpture  of  Florence 
to  its  painting,  it  is  fitting  that  we  men- 
tion first  of  all  the  friend  and  fellow-pupil 
of  the  Umbrian  Perugino,  Lorenzo  di 
Credi.  The  two  had  much  in  common. 
Trained  together  in  the  workshop  of  the 
sculptor  Verrocchio,  in  those  days  of 
intense  religious  stress,  they  both  became 


Lorenzo  di   Credi. —  Nativity. 


THE    MADONNA    IN    ADORATION.         171 

followers  of  the  prophet  prior  of  San 
Marco,  Savonarola.  Their  religious  ear- 
nestness naturally  found  expression  in  the 
beautiful  subject  of  the  Madre  Pia.  The 
Florentine  artist,  though  not  less  devout 
than  his  friend,  introduces  into  his  work 
an  element  of  joy,  characteristic  of  his 
surroundings,  and  more  attractive  than 
the  somewhat  melancholy  types  of  Um- 
bria.  His  Adoration,  in  the  Uffizi,  is 
an  admirable  example  of  his  best  work. 
Following  the  fashion  made  popular  by 
the  Delia  Robbias,  the  artist  chose  for 
his  composition  the  round  picture,  or 
tondo.  By  this  elimination  of  unneces- 
sary corners,  the  attention  centres  in  the 
beautiful  figure  of  the  Virgin,  which 
occupies  a  large  portion  of  the  circle. 
In  exquisite  keeping  with  the  modest 
loveliness  of  her  face,  a  delicate,  trans- 
parent veil  is  knotted  over  her  smooth 
hair,  and  falls  over  the  round  curves   of 


172  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

her  neck.  In  expression  and  attitude 
she  is  the  perfect  impersonation  of  the 
spirit  of  humility,  joyfully  submissive  to 
her  high  calling,  reverently  acknowledg- 
ing her  unworthiness. 

This  picture  may  be  taken  as  a  typ- 
ical example  of  the  subject  in  Florentine 
painting.  Lorenzo  himself  repeated  the 
composition  many  times,  and  numerous 
other  works  could  be  mentioned,  strik- 
ingly similar  in  treatment,  by  Ghirlandajo, 
in  the  Florence  Academy ;  by  Signorelli, 
in  the  National  Gallery;  by  Albertinelli, in 
the  Pitti ;  by  Filippo  Lippi,  in  the  Berlin 
Gallery ;  by  Filippino  Lippi,  in  the  Pitti ; 
and  so  on  through  the  list. 

In  many  cases  the  subject  seems  to 
have  been  chosen,  not  so  much  from  any 
devotional  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  painter, 
as  from  force  of  imitation  of  the  prevail- 
ing Florentine  fashion.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  in  the  case  of  Filippo  Lippi, 


THE  MADONNA  IN  ADORATION.    1 73 

who  does  not  bear  the  best  of  reputa- 
tions. Although  a  brother  in  the  Car- 
melite monastery,  his  love  of  worldly 
pleasures  often  led  him  astray,  if  we  are 
to  believe  the  gossip  of  the  old  annalists. 
We  may  allow  much  for  the  exaggera- 
tions of  scandal,  but  still  be  forced  to 
admit  that  his  candid  realism  is  plain 
evidence  of  a  closer  study  of  nature  than 
of  theology. 

Browning  has  given  us  a  fine  analysis 
of  his  character  in  the  poem  bearing  his 
name,  "  Fra  Lippo  Lippi."  The  artist 
monk,  caught  in  the  streets  of  the  city  on 
his  return  from  some  midnight  revel,  ex- 
plains his  constant  quarrel  with  the  rules  of 
art  laid  down  by  ecclesiastical  authorities. 
They  insist  that  his  business  is  "to  the 
souls  of  men,"  and  that  it  is  "  quite  from 
the  mark  of  painting"  to  make  "faces, 
arms,  legs,  and  bodies  like  the  true."  On 
his  part,  he  claims  that  it  will  not  help 


1/4  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

the  interpretation  of  soul,  by  painting 
body  ill.  An  intense  lover  of  every  beau- 
tiful line  and  color  in  God's  v/orld,  he 
believes  that  these  things  are  given  us 
to  be  thankful  for,  not  to  pass  over  or 
despise.  Obliged  to  devote  himself  to  a 
class  of  subjects  with  which  he  had  little 
sympathy,  he  compromised  with  his  crit- 
ics by  adopting  the  traditional  forms  of 
composition,  and  treating  them  after  the 
manner  of  genre  painters,  in  types  drawn 
from  the  ordinary  life  about  him.  The 
kneeling  Madre  Pia  he  painted  three 
times :  two  of  the  pictures  are  in  the 
Florence  Academy,  and  the  third  and 
best  is  in  the  Berlin  Gallery. 

In  the  Madonna  of  the  Uffizi,  he  broke 
away  somewhat  from  tradition,  and  ren- 
dered quite  a  new  version  of  the  subject. 
The  Virgin  is  seated  with  folded  hands, 
adoring  her  child,  who  is  held  up  before 
her  by  two  boy  angels.     His  type  of  child- 


Filippo  Lippi. —  Madonna  in  Adoration. 


THE    MADONNA    IN    ADORATION.         1 77 

hood  is  by  no  means  pretty,  though  alto- 
gether natural.  The  Virgin  cannot  be 
called  either  intellectual  or  spiritual,  but 
"  where,"  as  a  noted  critic  has  asked,  "  can 
we  find  a  face  more  winsome  and  appeal- 
ing ? "  Certainly  she  is  a  lovely  woman, 
and 

"  If  you  get  simple  beauty  and  naught  else, 
That's  somewhat :    and  you'll  find  the  soul  you 

have  missed 
Within  yourself,  when  you  return  him  thanks." 

The  idea  of  the  seated  Madre  Pia,  com- 
paratively rare  in  Florentine  art,  is  quite 
frequent  in  northern  Italy.  Sometimes 
the  setting  is  a  landscape,  in  the  fore- 
ground of  which  the  Madonna  sits  ador- 
ing the  babe  lying  on  her  lap.  Ex- 
amples are  by  Basaiti  (Paduan),  in  the 
National  Gallery,  and  by  a  painter  of 
Titian's  school,  in  Berlin.  Much  more 
common    is    the   enthroned   Madonna    in 


178  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

Adoration,  and  for  this  we  may  turn  to 
the  pictures  of  the  Vivarini,  Bartolom- 
meo  and  Luigi,  or  Alvise.  These  men 
were  of  Muranese  origin,  and  in  the  very 
beginning  of  Venetian  art  history  were 
at  the  head  of  their  profession,  until 
finally  eclipsed  by  the  rival  family  of  the 
Bellini.  Among  their  works,  we  find  by 
each  one  at  least  three  pictures  of  the 
type  described.  As  the  most  worthy  of 
description,  we  may  select  the  altar-piece 
by  Luigi,  in  the  Church  of  the  Redentore. 
As  it  is  one  of  the  most  popular  Madonnas 
in  Venice,  no  collection  is  complete  with- 
out it.  A  green  curtain  forms  the  back- 
ground, against  which  the  plain  marble 
throne-chair  is  brought  into  relief.  The 
Virgin  sits  wrapt  in  her  own  thoughts,  an 
impersonation  of  tranquil  dignity.  A 
heavy  wimple  falls  low  over  her  forehead, 
entirely  concealing  her  hair,  and  with  its 
severe  simplicity  accentuating  the  chaste 


Luigi   Vivarini. —  Madonna   and  Child. 


THE    MADONNA    IN    ADORATION.         l8l 

beauty  of  her  face.  Two  fascinating  little 
cherubs  sit  on  a  parapet  in  front,  playing 
on  lutes  ;  and,  lulled  by  their  gentle  music, 
the  sweet  babe  sleeps  on,  serenely  uncon- 
scious of  it  all. 

Before  such  pictures  as  this,  gleaming 
in  the  dim  light  of  quiet  chapels,  many  a 
heart,  before  unbelieving,  may  learn  a  new 
reverence  for  the  mysterious  sanctity  of 
motherhood. 


/ 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE    MADONNA    AS    WITNESS. 

jN  proportion  to  a  mother's  ideals 
and  ambitions  for  her  child  does 
her  love  take  on  a  higher  and 
purer  aspect.  The  noblest  mother  is  the 
most  unselfish ;  she  regards  her  child  as 
a  sacred  charge,  only  temporarily  com- 
mitted to  her  keeping.  Her  care  is  to 
nurture  and  train  him  for  his  part  in  life ; 
this  is  the  object  of  her  constant  endeavor. 
Thus  she  comes  to  look  upon  him  as  hers 
and  yet  not  hers.  In  one  sense  he  is  her 
very  own ;  in  another,  he  belongs  to  the 
universal  life  which  he  is  to  serve.  There 
is  no  conflict  between  the  two  ideas ;  they 
are  the  obverse  sides  of  one  great  truth. 

Both  must  be  recognized  for  a  complete 
182 


THE    MADONNA    AS    WITNESS.  1 83 

understanding  of  life.  What  is  true  of  all 
motherhood  finds  a  supreme  illustration 
in  the  character  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  She 
understood  from  the  first  that  her  son  had 
a  great  mission  to  fulfil,  that  his  work  had 
somewhat  to  do  with  a  mighty  kingdom. 
Never  for  a  moment  did  she  lose  sight  of 
these  things  as  she  "  pondered  them  in  her 
heart."  Her  highest  joy  was  to  present 
him  to  the  world  for  the  fulfilment  of  his 
calling. 

As  a  subject  of  art,  this  phase  of  the 
Madonna's  character  requires  a  mode  of 
treatment  quite  unlike  that  of  the  Mater 
Amabilis  or  the  Madre  Pia.  The  atti- 
tude and  expression  of  the  Virgin  are 
appropriate  to  her  office  as  the  Christ- 
bearer.  Both  mother  and  child,  no 
longer  absorbed  in  each  other,  direct 
their  glance  towards  the  people  to  whom 
he  is  given  for  a  witness.  (Isaiah  55  :  4.) 
These    may   be    the    spectators    looking 


1 84  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

at  the  picture,  or  the  saints  and  votaries 
filling  the  composition.  The  mother's 
lap  is  the  throne  for  the  child,  from 
which,  standing  or  sitting,  he  gives  his 
royal  blessing. 

It  will  be  readily  understood  that  so 
lofty  a  theme  can  not  be  common  in  art. 
In  our  own  day,  it  has,  with  the  Madre 
Pia,  passed  almost  entirely  out  of  the 
range  of  art  subjects;  modern  painters 
do  not  try  such  heights.  Franz  Defreg- 
ger  is  alone  in  having  made  an  honest 
and  earnest  effort,  not  without  success,  to 
express  his  conception  of  the  theme.  To 
his  Enthroned  Madonna  at  Dolsach,  and 
his  less  well-known  Madonna  in  Glory, 
let  us  pay  this  passing  word  of  honor. 

To  approach  our  subject  in  the  most 
systematic  way,  we  will  go  back  to  the 
beginnings  of  Madonna  art.  Mrs.  Jame- 
son tells  us  that  the  group  of  Virgin 
and    Son    was,    in    its    first    intention,    a 


THE    MADONNA    AS    WITNESS.  185 

theological  symbol,  and  not  a  representa- 
tion. It  was  a  device  set  up  in  the  ortho- 
dox churches  as  a  definite  formalization 
of  a  creed.  The  first  Madonnas  showed 
none  of  the  aspects  of  ordinary  mother- 
hood in  attitude,  gesture,  or  expression. 
The  theological  element  in  the  picture 
was  the  first  consideration.  We  may- 
take  as  a  representative  case  the  Virgin 
Nike-peja  (of  Victory),  supposed  to  be 
the  same  which  Eudocia,  wife  of  the 
Emperor  Theodosius  II.,  discovered  in 
her  travels  in  Palestine,  and  sent  to 
Constantinople,  whence  it  was  finally 
brought  to  St.  Mark's,  Venice.  The 
Virgin — a  half-length  figure  —  holds  the 
child  in  front  of  her,  like  a  doll,  as  if 
exhibiting  him  to  the  gaze  of  the  wor- 
shippers before  the  altar  over  which  the 
picture  hung.  Both  faces  look  directly 
out  at  the  spectator,  with  grave  and  stiff 
solemnity. 


1 86  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

The  progress  of  painting,  and  the 
growing  love  of  beauty,  at  length  wrought 
a  change.  The  time  came  when  art 
saw  the  possibility  of  uniting,  with  the 
religious  conception  of  previous  centu- 
ries, a  more  natural  ideal  of  motherhood. 
Thus,  while  the  Madonna  continues  to 
be  preeminently  a  witness  of  her  son's 
greatness,  it  is  not  at  the  sacrifice  of 
motherly  tenderness. 

In  Venetian  art-history,  Giovanni  Bel- 
lini stands  at  the  period  when  the  old 
was  just  merging  into  the  new.  We 
have  already  seen  how  greatly  he  and 
his  contemporaries  differed  from  the 
painters  of  a  later  time.  Taking  advan- 
tage of  all  the  progressive  methods  of 
the  day,  they  did  not  relinquish  the  re- 
ligious spirit  of  their  predecessors,  hence 
their  work  embodies  the  best  elements 
of  the  old  and  new.  As  we  examine  the 
Bellini  Madonnas,  one  after  another,  we 


THE    MADONNA    AS    WITNESS.  1 87 

can  not  fail  to  notice  how  delicately  they 
interpret  the  relation  of  the  mother  to  her 
child. 

Loving  and  gracious  as  she  is,  she  is 
not  the  Mater  Amabilis:  she  is  too  pre- 
occupied, though  not  too  cold  for  ca- 
resses. Neither  is  she  the  Madre  Pia, 
though  by  no  means  lacking  in  humility. 
Her  thoughts  are  of  the  future,  rather 
than  of  the  present.  True  to  a  mother's 
instinct,  she  encircles  her  child  with  a 
protecting  arm,  but  her  face  is  turned, 
not  to  his,  but  to  the  world.  Both  are 
looking  steadfastly  forward  to  the  great 
work  before  them.  Their  eyes  have  the 
far-seeing  look  of  those  absorbed  in  noble 
dreams.  Their  faces  are  full  of  sweet 
earnestness,  not  of  the  ascetic  sort,  but 
joyful,  with  a  calm,  tranquil  gladness. 

This  description  applies  almost  equally 
well  to  a  half-dozen  or  more  of  Bellini's 
Madonnas,  in    various   styles    of   compo- 


188  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

sition.  For  the  sake  of  definiteness,  we 
may  specify  the  Madonna  between  St. 
Paul  and  St.  George  in  the  Venice  Acad- 
emy. The  Virgin  is  in  half-length,  against 
a  scarlet  curtain,  supporting  the  child, 
who  stands  on  the  coping  of  a  balcony. 
In  technical  qualities  alone,  the  picture 
is  a  notable  one  for  precision  of  drawing, 
breadth  of  light  and  shade,  and  brilliant 
color.  In  Christian  sentiment  it  is  among 
the  rare  treasures  of  Italian  art.  The 
National  Gallery  and  the  Brera  contain 
others  which  are  very  similar  in  style  and 
conception. 

The  three  enthroned  Madonnas  which 
have  already  been  noticed  are  not  less 
remarkable  for  religious  significance. 
There  is  a  peculiar  freshness  and  vi- 
vacity in  the  San  Giobbe  picture.  Both 
Virgin  and  child  are  alert  and  eager, 
welcoming  the  future  with  smiling  and 
youthful    enthusiasm.      The    Frari    Ma- 


Giovanni  Bellini. —  Madonna  between   St.  George  and 
St.  Paul.     (Detail.) 


THE    MADONNA    AS    WITNESS.  191 

donna  is  of  a  more  subdued  type,  but  is 
not  less  true  to  her  ideal.  The  Virgin 
of  San  Zaccaria  is  more  thoughtful  and 
reflective,  but  she  holds  her  child  up 
bravely,  that  he  may  give  his  blessing  to 
mankind. 

It  will  have  been  noticed  that  the 
throne  is  an  especially  appropriate  set- 
tine  for  the  Madonna  as  Witness.  It  is 
one  of  the  functions  of  royalty  that  the 
queen  should  show  the  prince  to  his 
people.  We  therefore  turn  naturally  to 
this  class  of  pictures  for  examples.  To 
those  of  Bellini  just  cited  we  may  add, 
from  the  others  mentioned  in  the  second 
chapter,  the  Madonnas  by  Cima,  by 
Palma,  and  by  Montagna  in  Venetian 
Art;  and  by  Luini  and  by  Botticelli  in 
the  Lombard  and  Florentine  schools  re- 
spectively. Luini's  picture  is  one  which 
readily  touches  the  heart.  The  Virgin 
unites    the    sweetness    of    fresh,    young 


I92  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

motherhood  with  womanly  dignity  of 
character.  Her  smile  has  nothing  of 
mystery  in  it ;  it  is  simply  sweet  and 
winning.  The  Christ-child  is  a  lovely 
boy,  steadying  himself  against  his  moth- 
er's breast,  and  yet  with  an  air  of  self- 
reliance.  The  two  understand  each  other 
well. 

One  could  hardly  imagine  two  more 
dissimilar  spirits  than  Luini  and  Botti- 
celli. To  Luini's  Virgin,  the  conscious- 
ness of  her  son's  greatness  is  a  proud 
honor,  accepted  seriously,  but  gladly.  To 
Botticelli,  on  the  other  hand,  it  brings  a 
profound  melancholy.  This  is  so  marked 
that  at  first  sight  almost  every  one  is 
repelled  by  Botticelli,  and  yields  only  after 
long  familiarity  to  the  mysterious  fascina- 
tion of  the  sad-eyed  Madonna,  who  holds 
her  babe  almost  listlessly,  as  her  head 
droops  with  the  weight  of  her  sorrow. 
Her  expression  is  the  same  whatever  her 


Luini.  —  Madonna  with  St.  Barbara  and  St.   Anthony 


THE    MADONNA    AS    WITNESS.  195 

attitude,  when  she  presses  her  babe  to 
her  bosom  as  the  Mater  Amabilis  (in 
the  Borghese  Gallery  at  Rome,  in  the 
Dresden  Gallery,  and  Louvre),  or  when, 
as  witness  to  her  son's  destiny,  she  holds 
him  forth  to  be  seen  of  men.  It  is  in 
this  last  capacity  that  her  mood  is  most 
intelligible.  She  seems  oppressed  rather 
than  humbled  by  her  honors;  reluctant, 
rather  than  glad  to  assume  them ;  yet, 
with  proud  dignity,  determined  to  do 
her  part,  though  her  heart  break  in  the 
doing.  Her  nature  is  too  deep  to  accept 
the  joy  without  counting  the  cost,  and 
her  vision  looks  beyond  Bethlehem  to 
Calvary.  This  is  well  illustrated  in  the 
picture  of  the  Berlin  Gallery.1    The  queen 

1  The  Berlin  Gallery  contains  two  Enthroned  Madon- 
nas attributed  to  Botticelli.  The  description  here,  and  on 
page  40  makes  it  clear  that  the  reference  is  to  the  picture 
numbered  102.  This  does  not  appear  in  Berenson's  list  of 
Botticelli's  works,  but  is  treated  as  authentic  by  Crowe  and 
Cavalcaselle. 


196  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

mother  rises  with  the  prince  to  receive 
the  homage  of  humanity.  The  boy,  old 
beyond  his  years,  gravely  raises  his  right 
hand  to  bless  his  people,  the  other  still 
clinging,  with  infantile  grace,  to  the  dress 
of  his  mother.  Lovely,  rose -crowned 
angels  hold  court  on  either  side,  bearing 
lighted  tapers  in  jars  of  roses. 

The  Madonna  of  the  Pomegranate  is 
another  work  by  Botticelli  which  belongs 
in  this  class  of  pictures.  It  is  a  tondo  in 
the  Uffizi,  showing  the  figures  in  half 
length.  The  Virgin,  encircled  by  angels, 
holds  the  child  half  reclining  on  her  lap. 
Her  face  is  inexpressibly  sad,  and  the 
child  shares  her  mood,  as  he  raises  his 
little  hand  to  bless  the  spectator.  Two 
angels  bear  the  Virgin's  flowers,  roses 
and  lilies ;  two  others  hold  books.  They 
bend  towards  the  queen  as  the  petals  of 
a  rose  bend  towards  the  centre,  with  the 
serious  grace  peculiar  to  Botticelli. 


Botticelli. —  Madonna  of  the  Pomegranate. 


THE    MADONNA    AS    WITNESS.  I99 

In  connection  with  the  peculiar  type  of 
melancholy  exhibited  on  the  face  of  Botti- 
celli's Madonna,  it  will  be  of  interest  to 
refer  to  the  work  of  Francia.  The  two 
artists  were,  in  some  points,  kindred 
spirits ;  both  felt  the  burden  of  life's  mys- 
tery and  sorrow.  Francia,  as  we  have 
seen,  imbibed  from  the  works  of  Perugino 
something  of  the  spirit  of  mysticism  com- 
mon to  the  Umbrian  school.  But  while 
there  is  a  certain  resemblance  between 
his  Madonna  and  Perugino's,  the  former 
has  less  of  sentimentality  than  the  latter, 
and  more  real  melancholy.  Like  Botti- 
celli's Virgin,  she  acts  her  part  half-heart- 
edly, as  if  the  sword  had  already  begun  to 
pierce  her  heart.  Francia's  favorite  Ma- 
donna subjects  were  of  the  higher  order, 
the  Madre  Pia  and  the  Madonna  as  Wit- 
ness. In  treating  the  latter,  his  Christ- 
child  is  always  in  keeping  with  the  mother, 
a  grave  little  fellow  who  gives  the  bless- 


200  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

ing  with  almost  touching  dignity.  En- 
throned Madonnas  illustrating  the  theme 
are  those  of  the  Hermitage  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, of  the  Belvedere  at  Vienna,  and  the 
famous  Bentivoglio  Madonna  in  S.  Jacopo 
Maggiore  at  Bologna.  The  last-named  is 
one  of  the  works  which  enable  us  to  un- 
derstand Raphael's  high  praise  of  the 
Bolognese  master.  It  is  a  noble  composi- 
tion, full  of  strong  religious  feeling. 

It  is  a  long  leap  from  the  fifteenth  to 
the  seventeenth  centuries,  taking  us  from 
a  period  of  genuine  religious  fervor  in  art, 
into  an  age  of  artificial  imitation.  In  the 
midst  of  the  decadence  of  old  ideals  and 
the  birth  of  art  methods  entirely  new, 
arose  one  who  seemed  to  be  the  reincarna- 
tion of  the  old  spirit  in  a  form  peculiar  to 
his  age  and  race.  This  was  Murillo,  the 
peasant-painter  of  Spain,  than  whom  was 
never  artist  more  pious,  not  even  except- 
ing  the   angelic  brother  of  San    Marco. 


Murillo. —  Madonna  and  Child. 


THE    MADONNA    AS    WITNESS.  203 

He  alone  in  the  seventeenth  century  kept 
alive  the  pure  name  of  religious  fervor, 
which  had  burned  within  the  devout 
Italians  of  the  early  school.  Through  all 
his  pictures  of  the  Virgin  and  child  we 
can  see  that  the  Madonna  as  the  Christ- 
bearer  is  the  ideal  he  always  has  in  view. 
He  falls  short  of  it,  not  through  any  lack 
of  earnestness,  but  because  his  type  of 
womanhood  is  incapable  of  expressing  such 
lofty  idealism.  His  virgins  are  modelled 
upon  the  simple  Andalusian  maidens, 
sweet,  timid,  dark-eyed  creatures.  Their 
faces  glow  with  gentle  affection  as  they 
look  wistfully  out  of  the  picture,  or  raise 
their  eyes  to  heaven,  as  if  dimly  discern- 
ing the  heights  which  they  have  never 
reached. 

The  Pitti  Madonna  is  one  of  this  sweet 
company,  and  perhaps  the  loveliest  of 
them  all.  Both  she  and  her  beautiful  boy 
are  full  of  gentle  earnestness,  and  if  they 


204  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

are  too  simple-minded  to  realize  what  is 
in  store  for  them,  they  are  none  the  less 
ready  to  do  the  Father's  will. 

One  more  picture  remains  for  us  to 
consider  as  an  illustration  of  the  Ma- 
donna as  Witness.  Had  we  mentioned 
it  first,  nothing  further  could  have  been 
said  on  the  subject.  The  Sistine  Madonna 
is  the  greatest  ever  produced,  from  every 
point  of  view.  We  have  already  noted 
the  superiority  of  its  artistic  composition 
over  all  other  enskied  Madonnas,  and  are 
the  more  ready  to  appreciate  its  higher 
merits ;  for  its  strongest  hold  upon  our 
admiration  is  in  its  moral  and  religious 
significance.  Its  theme  is  the  transfigur- 
ation of  loving  and  consecrated  mother- 
hood. Mother  and  child,  united  in  love, 
move  towards  the  glorious  consummation 
of  the  heavenly  kingdom. 

It  has  been  said  that  Raphael  made 
no  preparatory  studies  for  this   Madonna, 


Raphael.  —  Sistink   Madonna. 


THE    MADONNA    AS    WITNESS.  20/ 

but,  in  a  larger  sense,  he  spent  his  life 
in  preparation  for  it.  He  had  begun 
by  imitating  the  mystic  sweetness  of 
Perugino's  types,  drawn  by  an  intuitive 
delicacy  of  perception  to  this  spiritual 
idealism,  while  yet  too  inexperienced  to 
express  any  originality.  Then,  by  an 
inevitable  reaction,  he  threw  himself  into 
the  creation  of  a  purely  naturalistic  Ma- 
donna, and  carried  the  Mater  Amabilis  to 
its  utmost  perfection.  Having  mastered 
all  the  secrets  of  woman's  beauty,  he 
returned  once  more  to  the  higher  realm 
of  idealism  to  send  forth  his  matured 
conception  of  the  Madonna  as  the  Christ- 
bearer. 

The  Sistine  Madonna  is  above  all 
words  of  praise;  all  extravagance  of  ex- 
pression is  silenced  before  her  simplicity. 
Hers  is  the  beauty  of  symmetrically  de- 
veloped womanhood ;  the  perfect  poise  of 
her  figure  is  not  more  marked  than  the 


208  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

perfect  poise  of  her  character.  Not  one 
false  note,  not  one  exaggerated  emphasis, 
jars  upon  the  harmony  of  body,  soul,  and 
spirit.  Confident,  but  entirely  unassum- 
ing ;  serious,  but  without  sadness  ;  joyous, 
but  not  to  mirthfulness ;  eager,  but  with- 
out haste;  she  moves  steadily  forward 
with  steps  timed  to  the  rhythmic  music 
of  the  spheres.  The  child  is  no  burden, 
but  a  part  of  her  very  being.  The  two 
are  one  in  love,  thought,  and  purpose. 
Sharing  the  secret  of  his  sacred  calling, 
the  mother  bears  her  son  forth  to  meet 
his  glorious  destiny. 

Art  can  pay  no  higher  tribute  to  Mary, 
the  Mother  of  Jesus,  than  to  show  her  in 
this  phase  of  her  motherhood.  We  sym- 
pathize with  her  maternal  tenderness, 
lavishing  fond  caresses  upon  her  child. 
We  go  still  deeper  into  her  experience 
when  we  see  her  bowed  in  sweet  humility 
before  the  cares  and  duties  she  is  called 


THE    MADONNA    AS    WITNESS.  209 

upon  to  assume.  But  we  are  admitted  to 
the  most  cherished  aspirations  of  her  soul, 
when  we  see  her  oblivious  of  self,  carrying 
her  child  forth  to  the  service  of  humanity. 
It  is  thus  that  she  becomes  one  of  his 
"  witnesses  unto  the  people ; "  it  is  thus  that 
!*  all  generations  shall  call  her  blessed." 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Mrs.  Anna  Jameson  :  The  Legends  of  the  Madonna 
Boston,  1896. 

Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle  :  History  of  Painting  in 
Italy.  London,  1864.  History  of  Painting  in  North 
Italy.  London,  1871.  Titian:  His  Life  and 
Times.     London,  1877. 

Kugler  :  Handbook  of  the  Italian  Schools,  revised  by 
A.  H.  Layard.  London,  1887.  Handbook  of  the 
German,  Flemish,  and  Dutch  Schools,  revised  by 
J.  A.  Crowe.     London,  1889. 

Morelli:  Critical  Studies  of  the  Italian  Painters. 
Translated  by  Constance  Jocelyn  Ffoulkes.  Lon- 
don, 1892. 

J.  A.  Symonds  :  Renaissance  in  Italy :  The  Fine  Arts. 
New  York,  1888. 

Walter  H.  Pater  :  Studies  in  the  History  of  the 
Renaissance.     London,  1873. 

Bernhard  Berenson  :  The  Venetian  Painters  of  the 
Renaissance.  New  York,  1894.  The  Florentine 
Painters  of  the  Renaissance.     New  York,  1896. 

210 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  211 

Karl  Karoly  :  A  Guide  to  the  Paintings  of  Florence. 

London    and    New  York,    1893.    A  Guide   to  the 

Paintings  of  Venice.     London  and  New  York,  1895. 
C.  C.  Perkins:  Tuscan  Sculptors.     London,  1864. 
Cavalucci  et  Molinier:  Les  Delia  Robbia:  leur  vie 

et  leur  ceuvre.     Paris,  1884. 
Eugene  Muntz:    Raphael.      Translated    by    Walter 

Armstrong.     London,  1882. 


INDEX  OF   ARTISTS. 

Albertinelli,  Madonna  in  the  Pitti,  172. 

Angelico,  Fra,  Madonna  della  Stella,  66-69,  132. 

Barabino,  N.,  Mater  Amabilis,  154. 

Barocci,  F.,  Madonna  del  Gatto,  126. 

Bartolommeo,  Madonna  in  the  Capella  Giovanato,  30 ;  Ma- 
donnas in  the  Florence  Academy,  31  ;  Enthroned  Madon- 
na in  the  Pitti,  42,  47. 

Basaiti,  Madonna  in  the  National  Gallery,  177. 

Bellini,  Giovanni,  Madonna  of  San  Giobbe,  50,  188  ;  Frari 
Madonna,  50,  191 ;  Madonna  of  San  Zaccaria,  50-53,  191  ; 
Madonna  between  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  188;  Ma- 
donna in  the  National  Gallery,  188 ;  Madonna  in  the 
Brera,  188. 

Bellini,  Jacopo,  Madonna  in  the  Venice  Academy,  25. 

Bodenhausen,  Madonna,  90,  154. 

Bonifazio  Veronese,  Seven  pictures  of  the  Santa  Conversa- 
zione, 1 15. 

Botticelli,  Enthroned  Madonna  at  Berlin,  40,  191,  195,  196; 
Madonna  in  the  Borghese,  195;  Madonna  in  the  Dres- 
den Gallery,  195  ;  Madonna  in  the  Louvre,  195  ;  Madonna 
of  the  Pomegranate,  196;  Madonna  of  the  Inkhorn,  59. 

Bouguereau,  Enthroned  Madonna,  64 ;  Madonna  of  the  An- 
gels, 90  ;  Mater  Amabilis,  1 54. 

Byzantine  Madonna  in  the  Ara  Coeli,  25;  in  S.  Maria  in 
Cosmedino,  25;  in  St.  Mark's,  25,  185;  at  Padua,  25. 

Cano,  Alonzo,  Madonna  of  Bethlehem,  32. 


214  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

Caroto,    Gianfrancesco,    Madonna   in    Sant'   Anastasia,   80; 

Madonna  in  San  Giorgio,  80 ;  Madonna  in  San  Fermo 

Maggiore,  80. 
Cavazzola,  see  Morando. 

Cima,  Enthroned  Madonna  in  the  Venice  Academy,  49,  191. 
Cimabue,  Ruccellai  Madonna,  38-39. 

Conti,  Bernardino  de',  Madonna  in  the  Hermitage  Gallery,  146. 
Correggio,  Madonnas  in  Dresden,  45 ;  Madonna  of  St.  Sebas- 
tian, 70;  Madonna  in  the  Uffizi,  106,  136;  La  Zingarella, 

106,  137,  146;    Madonna   della   Cesta,    136;    Madonna 

della  Scala,  138,  141. 
Credi,  Lorenzo  di,  Nativity  in  the  Uffizi,  171. 
Crivelli,  Carlo,  Use  of  Crown  by,  59. 
Dagnan-Bouveret,  Mater  Amabilis,  1 54. 
Defregger,  Franz,  Madonna  at  Dolsach,   184;    Madonna  in 

Glory,  90,  184. 
Dolce,  Carlo,  Madonna,  148. 
Diirer,  Woodcut,  60 ;   Madonna  in  "garden  inclosed,"  115; 

Madonna    in   the    Belvedere,    150-153;    Virgin    on    the 

Crescent  Moon,  89,  149. 
Eyck,  Van,  Madonna  in  Frankfort,  60,  149. 
Fiesole,  Mino  da,  Altar-piece  at  Fiesole,  168. 
Francia,  Madonna  of  the  Rose  Garden,  115,  161  ;  Enthroned 

Madonna  in  the  Hermitage,  200;  Enthroned  Madonna 

in  the  Belvedere,  200  ;  Bentivoglio  Madonna,  200. 
Ghirlandajo,  Enthroned  Madonna  in  the  Uffizi,  40  ;  Madonna 

in  the  Florence  Academy,  172. 
Giorgione,    Madonna   of   Castel  -  Franco,    54;    Madonna  in 

Madrid,  54. 
Guay,  Mater  Amabilis,  1 54. 
Holbein,  Meyer  Madonna,  60,  149. 
Ittenbach,  Enthroned  Madonna,  64. 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  see  Vinci. 
Libri,  Girolamo   dai,    Madonna   in   San    Giorgio   Maggiore, 

Verona,  48  ;  Madonna  of  St.  Andrew  and  St.  Peter,  81. 


INDEX    OF    ARTISTS.  21  5 

Iippi,  Filippino,  Madonna  in  the  Pitti,  11 5-1 16,  172. 

Lippi,  Filippo,  Madonna  in  the  Berlin  Gallery,  172,  174  ;  Ma- 
donnas in  the  Florence  Academy,  174;  Madonna  in  the 
Uffizi,  174-177. 

Lotto,  Madonna  of  S.  Bartolommeo,  48 ;  Santa  Conversa- 
zione, 115. 

Luini,  Madonna  between  St.  Anthony  and  St.  Barbara,  45, 
191-192  ;  Pastoral  Madonna,  104-105. 

Macomber,  Mary  L.,  Madonna,  154. 

Mantegna,  Madonna  of  Victory,  41,  48. 

Mariotto,  Bernardino  di,  Madonna,  47. 

Massys,  Quentin,  Enthroned  Madonna  in  the  Berlin  Gallery' 
63,  132;  Madonna  in  the  Munich  Gallery,  121. 

Max,  Gabriel,  Madonnas,  35,  154. 

Memling,  Madonna  at  Bruges,  60. 

Mignard,  La  Vierge  a  la  Grappe,  126. 

Montagna,  Madonna  in  the  Brera,  40,  191. 

Morando,  Madonna  in  Glory  in  Verona  Gallery,  81. 

Moretto,  Madonna  of  S.  Clemente,  48  ;  Madonna  of  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  77  ;  Madonna  of  San  Giorgio  Maggiore, 
77;  Madonna  in  the  Berlin  Gallery,  78-79. 

Miiller,  Carl,  Mater  Amabilis,  154. 

Murano,  Giovanni  da,  Use  of  Crown  by,  59. 

Murillo,  Madonna  of  the  Napkin,  32 ;  Holy  Family  of  the 
Bird,  126;  Madonna  in  the  Pitti,  203-204. 

Palma,  Enthroned  Madonna  at  Vicenza,  49,  191  ;  Santa  Con- 
versazione at  Naples,  ill  ;  Santa  Conversazione  at  Dres- 
den, in  ;  Santa  Conversazione  at  Munich,  m  ;  Santa 
Conversazione  at  Vienna,  III,  112. 

Perugino,  Enthroned  Madonna  in  the  Vatican,  45;  Madonna 
in  the  National  Gallery,  160. 

Pinturicchio,  Madonna  in  St.  Andrea,  Perugia,  46. 

Raphael,  Ansidei  Madonna,  46,  133;  Madonna  of  St.  An- 
thony, 47  ;  Baldacchino  Madonna,  47  ;  Madonna  of  the 
Casa  Alba,  99;  the  Chair  Madonna,  134  j  the  Colonm 


2l6  THE    MADONNA    IN    ART. 

Madonna,  133;  the  Conestabile  Madonna,  133;  Ma- 
donna of  the  Diadem,  147;  Foligno  Madonna,  84-85; 
Granduca  Madonna,  29 ;  Madonna  of  the  Goldfinch,  93, 
97,  98;  Holy  Family  of  Francis  I.,  133  ;  Holy  Family  of 
the  Lamb,  100,  105;  Madonna  dell'  Impannata,  125; 
Belle  Jardiniere,  93,  97,  98 ;  Madonna  in  the  Meadow, 
93,97,98,99,  104;  Orleans  Madonna,  126,  133;  Sistine 
Madonna,  85,  204,  208;  Tempi  Madonna,  30,  133. 

Rembrandt,  Le  Menage  du  Menuisier  in  the  Louvre,  1 27  ;  in 
St.  Petersburg,  127;  Madonna  in  the  Munich  Gallery, 
127-128. 

Reni,  Guido,  Madonna,  147. 

Robbia,  Andrea  della,  Popular  tabernacle,  164;  Nativity, 
167. 

Robbia,  Giovanni,  Son  of  Andrea,  162. 

Robbia,  Girolamo  della,  Son  of  Andrea,  162. 

Robbia,  Luca  della,  Founder  of  his  school,  162. 

Robbia,  Luca  della,  II.,  Son  of  Andrea,  162. 

Romano,  Giulio,  Madonna  della  Catina,  125;  his  work  on 
the  Madonna  dell'  Impannata,  125  ;  Madonna  in  a  Bed- 
chamber, 125. 

Rossellino,  Antonio,  Nativity  in  San  Miniato,  167. 

Rubens,  Holy  Families,  149. 

Salimbeni,  Holy  Family,  126. 

Sarto,  Andrea  del,  Madonna  di  San  Francesco,  42  ;  Madonna 
in  the  Berlin  Gallery,  69. 

Sassoferrato,  Madonna  in  Vatican  Gallery,  89;  Madonna 
with  Sleeping  Child,  148. 

Savoldo,  Madonna  in  the  Brera,  79. 

Schongauer,  Madonna  in  Munich,  60  ;  Holy  Family,  1 21-123. 

Siena,  Guido  da,  Madonna,  38. 

Signorelli,  Nativity  in  the  National  Gallery,  172. 

Sodoma,  Madonna  in  the  Brera,  104  (note). 

Solario,  Madonna  of  the  Green  Cushion,  146. 

Lo  Spagna,  Madonna  once  attributed  to,  73. 


INDEX    OF    ARTISTS.  217 

Spanish  School,  Madonna  in  the  Dresden  Gallery,  89. 

Tintoretto,  Madonna  in  the  Berlin  Gallery,  89. 

Titian,  Vierge  au  Lapin,    115   (note),  142;  Madonna  of  the 

Cherries,  141  (note)  ;  Madonnas  and  Saints  at  Dresden, 

141  (note);  Madonna  with  Sts.  Ulfo  and  Brigida,  142; 

Madonna  with  Roses,  142;  Madonna  and  Saints,  145; 

Pesaro  Madonna,  56. 
Titian,  School  of,  Madonna  in  Berlin,  177. 
Umbrian  School,  Madonna  by,  in  the  National  Gallery,  73-74- 
Veronese,  Madonna  in  the  Venice  Academy,  56. 
Vinci,  Leonardo  da,  Madonna  of  the  Rocks,  100-104. 
Vivarini,  Bartolommeo,  Madonnas,  178. 
Vivarini,  Luigi,  Madonna  in  the  Church  of  the  Redentore. 

178. 


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